Jeremiah in Prison
1Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin37:1 Hebrew Koniah, a variant of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. 2Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.
3King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehukal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”
4Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. 5Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians37:5 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 8, 9, 13 and 14 who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt. 8Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture it and burn it down.’
9“This is what the Lord says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not! 10Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian37:10 Or Chaldean; also in verse 11 army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city down.”
11After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, 12Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there. 13But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”
14“That’s not true!” Jeremiah said. “I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.
16Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. 17Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there any word from the Lord?”
“Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.”
18Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What crime have I committed against you or your attendants or this people, that you have put me in prison? 19Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’? 20But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there.”
21King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
Atsekera Yeremiya Mʼndende
1Nebukadinezara mfumu ya Babuloni, inakhazika pa mpando waufumu Zedekiya mwana wa Yosiya kukhala mfumu ya Yuda. Iye analowa mʼmalo mwa Yehoyakini mwana wa Yehoyakimu. 2Koma Zedekiya kapena atumiki ake ngakhalenso anthu a mʼdzikomo sanasamalire mawu a Yehova amene anayankhula kudzera mwa mneneri Yeremiya.
3Tsono Zedekiya anatuma Yehukali mwana wa Selemiya ndi wansembe Zefaniya mwana wa Maseya kwa mneneri Yeremiya ndi uthenga uwu: “Chonde tipempherereni kwa Yehova Mulungu wathu.”
4Nthawi imeneyinso nʼkuti Yeremiya ali ndi ufulu woyenda pakati pa anthu chifukwa anali asanaponyedwe mʼndende. 5Nthawi imeneyinso nʼkuti gulu lankhondo la Farao litatuluka mʼdziko la Igupto. Ndipo Ababuloni amene anali atazinga Yerusalemu atamva zimenezi, anachoka ku Yerusalemuko.
6Tsono Yehova anawuza mneneri Yeremiya kuti, 7“Uyiwuze mfumu ya Yuda imene inakutuma kuti udzapemphe nzeru kwa ine kuti Ine Yehova, Mulungu wa Israeli ndikuti, gulu lankhondo la Farao limene linatuluka kuti lidzakuthandize lidzabwerera kwawo ku Igupto. 8Ndipo Ababuloni adzabwerera kudzathira nkhondo mzinda uno. Iwo adzawugonjetsa ndi kuwutentha.
9“Yehova akuti: Musadzinyenge, nʼkumaganiza kuti, ‘Ndithu Ababuloni adzatisiya.’ Ndithudi sadzakusiyani! 10Ngakhale mutagonjetsa gulu lonse lankhondo la Ababuloni limene likukuthirani nkhondo ndipo mʼmatenti mwawo ndikutsala anthu ovulala okhaokha, amenewo adzabwera ndi kudzatentha mzinda uno.”
11Gulu lankhondo la Ababuloni litaleka kuthira nkhondo mzinda wa Yerusalemu chifukwa choopa gulu lankhondo la Farao, 12Yeremiya ananyamuka kuchoka ku Yerusalemu ndi kumapita ku dziko la Benjamini kuti akalandire gawo lake la minda ya makolo ake. 13Koma atafika pa Chipata cha Benjamini, mkulu wa alonda amene dzina lake linali Iriya mwana wa Selemiya, mwana wa Hananiya, anagwira mneneri Yeremiyayo ndipo anati, “Iwe ukuthawira kwa Ababuloni!”
14Yeremiya anati, “Zimenezo si zoona! Ine sindikuthawira kwa Ababuloni.” Koma Iriya sanamumvere. Mʼmalo mwake anagwira Yeremiya nʼkupita naye kwa akuluakulu. 15Akuluakuluwo anamupsera mtima Yeremiya ndipo anamukwapula ndi kumuyika mʼnyumba ya mlembi Yonatani, imene anayisandutsa ndende.
16Yeremiya anayikidwa mʼndende ya pansi pa nthaka, kumene anakhalako nthawi yayitali. 17Kenaka Mfumu Zedekiya inatuma anthu kuti akayitane Yeremiya ndipo anabwera naye ku nyumba ya mfumu. Atafika mfumu inamufunsa mwamseri kuti, “Kodi pali mawu ena amene Yehova wakuwuza?”
Yeremiya anayankha kuti, “Inde. Inu mfumu mudzaperekedwa kwa mfumu ya ku Babuloni.”
18Pamenepo Yeremiya anafunsa Mfumu Zedekiya kuti, “Kodi ndakulakwirani chiyani inuyo kapena akuluakulu anu kapenanso anthu awa, kuti mundiyike mʼndende? 19Kodi ali kuti aneneri anu amene anakuloserani kuti, ‘Mfumu ya ku Babuloni sidzakuthirani nkhondo pamodzi ndi dziko lino’? 20Koma tsopano, mbuye wanga mfumu, chonde tamverani. Loleni ndinene pempho langa pamaso panu: Musandibwezere ku nyumba ya mlembi Yonatani, kuopa kuti ndingakafere kumeneko.”
21Tsono Mfumu Zedekiya analamula kuti Yeremiya asungidwe mʼbwalo la alonda. Ankamupatsa buledi tsiku ndi tsiku amene ankamugula kwa ophika buledi. Anapitiriza kutero mpaka buledi yense anatha mu mzindamo. Choncho Yeremiya anapitirira kukhala mʼbwalo la alonda.
