Jeremiah 38

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 But Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah and Pashhur son ofMalchiah heard the words which Jeremiah was saying to al the people,	1 Now Saphatias the son of Mathan, and Gedelias the son of Phassur, and Juchal the son of Selemias, and Phassur the son of Melchias heard the words that Jeremias spoke to all the people, saying:
2 'Yahweh says this, "Anyone who stays in this city wil die by sword, famine or plague; but anyone wholeaves it and surrenders to the Chaldaeans wil live; he wil escape with his life.	2 Thus saith the Lord: Whosoever shell remain in this city, shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence : but he that shall go forth to the Chaldeans, shall live, and his life shall be safe, and he shall live.
3 Yahweh says this: This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, and he willcapture it." '	3 Thus saith the Lord: This city shall surely be delivered into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.
4 The chief men then said to the king, 'You must have this man put to death: he is unquestionablydisheartening the remaining soldiers in the city, and al the people too, by talking like this. This man is seekingnot the welfare of the people but their ruin.'	4 And the princes said to the king: We beseech thee that this man may be put to death: for on purpose he weakeneth the hands of the men of war, that remain in this city, and the hands of the people, speaking to them according to these words: for this man seeketh not peace to this people, but evil.
5 King Zedekiah answered, 'He is in your hands as you know, for the king is powerless to oppose you.'	5 And king Sedecias said: Behold he is in your hands: for it is not lawful for the king to deny you any thing.
6 So they took Jeremiah and put him into the storage-wel of the king's son Malchiah in the Court of theGuard, letting him down with ropes. There was no water in the storage-well, only mud, and into the mudJeremiah sank.	6 Then they took Jeremias and cast him into the dungeon of Melchias the son of Amelech, which was in the entry of the prison: and they let down Jeremias by ropes into the dungeon, wherein there was no water, but mire. And Jeremias sunk into the mire.
7 But Ebed-Melech the Cushite, a eunuch attached to the palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put intothe storage-wel . As the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate,	7 Now Abdemelech the Ethiopian, an eunuch that was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremias in the dungeon: but the king was sitting in the gate of Benjamin.
8 Ebed-Melech came out from the palace and spoke to the king.	8 And Abdemelech went out of the king's house, and spoke to the king, saying:
9 'My lord king,' he said, 'these men have done a wicked thing by treating the prophet Jeremiah like this:they have thrown him into the storage-well. He will starve to death there, since there is no more food in the city.'	9 My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done against Jeremias the prophet, casting him into the dungeon to die there with hunger, for there is no more bread in the city.
10 At this the king gave Ebed-Melech the Cushite the fol owing order: 'Take thirty men with you from hereand pul the prophet Jeremiah out of the storage-wel before he dies.'	10 Then the king commanded Abdemelech the Ethiopian, saying: Take from hence thirty men with thee, end draw up Jeremias the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.
11 Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went into the palace to the Treasury wardrobe; out of it hetook some torn, worn-out rags which he lowered on ropes to Jeremiah in the storage-wel .	11 So Abdemelech taking the men with him, went into the king's house that was under the storehouse: and he took from thence old rags, and old rotten things, and he let them down by cords to Jeremias into the dungeon.
12 Ebed-Melech the Cushite then said to Jeremiah, 'These torn, worn-out rags are for you to put underyour armpits to pad the ropes.' Jeremiah did this.	12 And Abdemelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremias: Put these old rags and these rent and rotten things under thy arms, and upon the cords: and Jeremias did so.
13 Then they hauled Jeremiah up with the ropes and pulled him out of the storage-wel . And Jeremiahstayed in the Court of the Guard.	13 And they drew up Jeremias with the cords, and brought him forth out of the dungeon. And Jeremias remained in the entry of the prison.
14 King Zedekiah had the prophet Jeremiah summoned to him at the third entrance to the Temple ofYahweh. 'I want to ask you for a word,' the king said to Jeremiah, 'keep nothing back from me.'	14 And king Sedecias sent, and took Jeremias the prophet to him to the third gate, that was in the house of the Lord: and the king said to Jeremias: I will ask thee a thing, hide nothing from me.
15 Jeremiah answered Zedekiah, 'If I do proclaim it to you, are you not sure to have me put to death?And if I give you advice, you wil not listen to me.'	15 Then Jeremias said to Sedecias: If I shall declare it to thee, wilt thou not put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, thou wilt not hearken to me.
16 King Zedekiah then secretly swore this oath to Jeremiah, 'As Yahweh lives, giver of this life of ours, Iwil have you neither put to death nor handed over to these men who are determined to kill you.'	16 Then king Sedecias swore to Jeremias, in private, saying: As the Lord liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, nor will I deliver thee into the hands of these men that seek thy life.
17 Jeremiah then said to Zedekiah, 'Yahweh, God Sabaoth, God of Israel, says this, "If you go out andsurrender to the king of Babylon's generals, your life will be safe and this city will not be burnt down; you andyour family wil survive.	17 And Jeremias said to Sedecias: Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: If thou wilt take a resolution and go out to the princes of the king of Babylon, thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burnt with fire: and thou shalt be safe, and thy house.
18 But if you do not go out and surrender to the king of Babylon's generals, this city wil be handed overto the Chaldaeans and they wil burn it down; nor wil you yourself escape their clutches." '	18 But if thou wilt not go out to the princes of the king of Babylon, this city shall be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire: and thou shalt not escape out of their hands.
19 King Zedekiah then said to Jeremiah, 'I am afraid of the Judaeans who have already gone over to theChaldaeans: I might be handed over to them and they would il -treat me.'	19 And king Sedecias said to Jeremias: I am afraid because of the Jews that are fled over to the Chaldeans: lest I should be delivered into their hands, and they should abuse me.
20 'You wil not be handed over to them,' Jeremiah replied. 'Please listen to Yahweh's voice as I haverelayed it to you, and then al wil go wel with you and your life wil be safe.	20 But Jeremias answered: They shall not deliver thee: hearken, I beseech thee, to the word of the Lord, which I speak to thee, and it shall be well with thee, and thy soul shall live.
21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is what Yahweh has shown me:	21 But if thou wilt not go forth, this is the word which the Lord hath shewn me:
22 the sight of al the women left in the king of Judah's palace being led off to the king of Babylon'sgenerals and saying: "They have misled you, they have triumphed over you, those friends of yours! Your feethave sunk in the mud! They are up and away!"	22 Behold all the women that are left in the house of the king of Juda, shall be brought out to the princes of the king of Babylon: and they shall say: Thy men of peace have deceived thee, and have prevailed against thee, they have plunged thy feet in the mire, and in a slippery place, and they have departed from thee.
23 'Yes, al your wives and children wil be led off to the Chaldaeans, and you yourself wil not escapetheir clutches but wil be a prisoner in the clutches of the king of Babylon. And as for this city, it wil be burntdown.'	23 And all thy wives, and thy children shall be brought out to the Chaldeans, and thou shalt not escape their hands, but thou shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and he shall burn this city with fire.
24 Zedekiah then said to Jeremiah, 'Do not let anyone else hear these words or you wil die.	24 Then Sedecias said to Jeremias: Let no man know these words, and thou shalt not die.
25 If the chief men hear that I have been talking to you, and come and say, "Tel us what you said to theking and what the king said to you; keep nothing back from us, or we shal put you to death,"	25 But if the princes shall hear that I have spoken with thee, and shall come to thee, and say to thee: Tell us what thou hast said to the king, hide it not from us, and we will not kill thee: and also what the king said to thee:
26 you must reply, "I presented this request to the king: that he would not have me sent back toJonathan's house to die." '	26 Thou shalt say to them: I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not command me to be carried back into the house of Jonathan, to die there.
27 And in fact al the chief men came to Jeremiah and questioned him. He told them exactly what theking had ordered him to say. They then left him in peace, since the conversation had not been overheard.	27 So all the princes came to Jeremias, and asked him: and he spoke to them according to all the words that the king had commanded him: and they left him: for nothing had been heard.
28 And Jeremiah stayed in the Court of the Guard until the day Jerusalem was captured. And he wasthere when Jerusalem actual y was captured.	28 But Jeremias remained in the entry of the prison, until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and it came to pass that Jerusalem was taken.