The Daily Audio Bible

37 And king Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned for Jeconiah^[a], the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, made king in the land of Judah.

² And he, and his servants, and his people obeyed not to the words of the Lord, which he spake in the hand of Jeremy, the prophet. (And he, and his officers, and his people did not obey the words of the Lord, which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.)

³ And king Zedekiah sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremy, the prophet, and said, Pray thou for us our Lord God. (And King Zedekiah sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to the prophet Jeremiah, and said, Pray thou for us to the Lord our God.)

⁴ Forsooth Jeremy went freely in the midst of the people; for they had not (yet) sent him into the keeping of the prison.

⁵ Therefore the host of Pharaoh went out of Egypt, and [the] Chaldees, that besieged Jerusalem, heard such a message, and went away from Jerusalem. (And so, Pharaoh’s army went forth out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans, who were besieging Jerusalem, heard this news, they went away from Jerusalem.)

⁶ And the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy, the prophet, and said,

⁷ The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Thus ye shall say to the king of Judah, that sent you to ask me, Lo! the host of Pharaoh, which went out to you into help, shall turn again into his land, into Egypt. (The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Thus ye shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to ask me, Lo! Pharaoh’s army, which went out to help you, shall return to their own land, yea, to Egypt.)

⁸ And Chaldees shall come again, and shall fight against this city, and shall take it, and shall burn it with fire. (And then the Chaldeans shall return, and shall fight against this city, and shall take it, and shall burn it down.)

⁹ The Lord saith these things, Do not ye deceive your souls, saying, Chaldees going shall go away, and shall depart from us; for they shall not go away. (The Lord saith these things, Do not ye deceive yourselves, by saying, The Chaldeans going away shall truly go away, and shall indeed depart from us; for they shall not go away from you.)

¹⁰ But though ye slay all the host of Chaldees, that fight against you, and some wounded men of them be left, each man shall rise from his tent, and they shall burn this city with fire. (But even if ye might kill all of the Chaldean army, who fight against you, and only some of their wounded men be left, each wounded man shall rise up out of his tent, and they shall burn down this city.)

¹¹ Therefore when the host of Chaldees had gone away from Jerusalem, for (fear of) the host of Pharaoh, (And so when the Chaldean army had gone away from Jerusalem, for fear of Pharaoh’s army,)

¹² Jeremy went out of Jerusalem, to go into the land of Benjamin, and to part there the possession in the sight of [the] citizens. (Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem, to go to the land of Benjamin, and to take possession of his portion of the family property before the citizens there.)

¹³ And when he was come to the gate of Benjamin, there was a keeper of the gate by whiles (the guard, or the gate-keeper, was there), Irijah by name, the son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah; and he took (hold of) Jeremy, the prophet, and said, Thou fleest to [the] Chaldees.

¹⁴ And Jeremy answered, It is false; I flee not to [the] Chaldees. And he heard not Jeremy, but Irijah took Jeremy, and brought him to the princes. (And Jeremiah answered, That is false; I do not flee to the Chaldeans. But Irijah would not listen to him, and he took Jeremiah, and brought him to the officers.)

¹⁵ Wherefore the princes were wroth against Jeremy, and beat him, and sent him into the prison, that was in the house of Jonathan, the scribe; for he was sovereign on the prison (for he was the ruler of the prison).

¹⁶ Therefore Jeremy entered into the house of the pit, and into the prison of travail; and Jeremy sat there many days (and Jeremiah sat there for many days).

¹⁷ Therefore king Zedekiah sent, and took him away, and asked him privily in his house, and said, Guessest thou, whether a word is of the Lord? And Jeremy said, There is. And Jeremy said, Thou shalt be betaken into the hand of the king of Babylon. (And so King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah, and had him brought to his house, and privately asked him, Knowest thou, is there a word from the Lord? And Jeremiah said, There is. And Jeremiah said, Thou shalt be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.)

¹⁸ And Jeremy said to Zedekiah, the king, What have I sinned to thee, and to thy servants, and to thy people, for thou hast sent me into the house of [the] prison? (And Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, What have I sinned against thee, and thy officers, and thy people, so that thou hast sent me into the prison house?)

¹⁹ Where be your prophets, that prophesied to you, and said, The king of Babylon shall not come on you, and on this land? (Where be your prophets, who prophesied to you, and said, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, or against this land?)

²⁰ Now therefore, my lord the king, I beseech, hear thou, my prayer be worth(y) in thy sight, and send thou not me again into the house of Jonathan, the scribe, lest I die there. (And so now, my lord the king, I beseech thee, hear thou, let my prayer be worthy in thy sight, and do not thou send me again into the house of Jonathan, the writer, lest I die there.)

²¹ Therefore Zedekiah commanded, that Jeremy should be betaken into the porch of the prison, and that a cake of bread should be given to him each day, without stew, till all the loaves of the city were wasted; and Jeremy dwelled in the porch of the prison. (And so Zedekiah commanded that Jeremiah should be taken to the courtyard of the prison, and that a loaf of bread should be given to him each day, but without stew, until all the loaves of the city were gone; and so Jeremiah lived in the courtyard of the prison.)

38 Forsooth Shephatiah, son of Mattan, and Gedaliah, son of Pashur, and Jucal, son of Shelemiah, and Pashur, son of Malchiah, heard the words which Jeremy spake to all the people, saying,

² The Lord saith these things, Whoever dwelleth in this city, shall die by sword, and hunger, and pestilence; but he that fleeth to [the] Chaldees, shall live, and his soul shall be whole and living. (The Lord saith these things, Whoever remaineth in this city, shall die by the sword, and by hunger, and by pestilence; but he who fleeth to the Chaldeans, shall live, and he shall be whole and living.)

³ The Lord saith these things, This city to be betaken shall be betaken into the hand of the host of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it. (The Lord saith these things, This city shall be delivered into the hands, or into the power, of the army of the king of Babylon, and they shall capture it.)

⁴ And the princes said to the king, We pray, that this man be slain; for of before-casting he discomforteth the hands of (the) men warriors, that dwelled in this city, and the hands of all the people, and speaketh to them by all these words. For why this man seeketh not peace to this people, but evil. (And the officers said to the king, We pray, that this man be killed; because by such forecasting he weakeneth the hands, or the resolve, of the warriors, and the hands of all the people, who still remain in this city, yea, by speaking to them by all these words. For this man seeketh not peace for this people, but evil.)

⁵ And king Zedekiah said, Lo! he is in your hands, for it is not leaveful that the king deny anything to you. (And King Zedekiah said, Lo! he is in your hands, for it is not lawful for the king to deny anything to you.)

⁶ Therefore they took Jeremy, and casted him down into the pit of Malchiah, the son of Hammelech, which was in the porch of the prison; and they sent down Jeremy by cords into the pit, wherein was no water, but fen; therefore Jeremy went down into the filth. (And so they took Jeremiah, and threw him down into the pit of Malchiah, the son of Hammelech, which was in the courtyard of the prison; yea, they sent Jeremiah down by cords into the pit, where there was no water, but only dirt, or mire; and so Jeremiah went down into the filth.)

⁷ Forsooth Ebedmelech (the) Ethiopian, a chaste man and honest, heard, that was in the king’s house, that they had sent Jeremy into the pit; soothly the king (then) sat in the gate of Benjamin. (But Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, an honest and chaste servant, that is, a eunuch, who was in the king’s house, or the palace, heard that they had sent Jeremiah into the pit; and the king then sat at the Benjamin Gate.)

⁸ And Ebedmelech went out of the king’s house, and spake to the king, and said, (And Ebedmelech went forth from the palace, and spoke to the king, and said,)

⁹ My lord the king, these men did evil all things, whatever things they did against Jeremy, the prophet, sending him into the pit, that he die there for hunger; for why loaves be no more in the city. (My lord the king, these men have done a very evil thing, yea, what they have done against the prophet Jeremiah, by sending him into the pit, so that he would die there of hunger; for there be no more loaves in the city.)

¹⁰ Therefore the king commanded to Ebedmelech (the) Ethiopian, and said, Take with thee thirty men from hence, and raise thou [up] Jeremy, the prophet, from the pit, before that he die. (And so the king commanded to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, and said, Take three men from here with thee, and raise thou up the prophet Jeremiah, from the pit, before that he die there.)

¹¹ Therefore when Ebedmelech had taken men with him, he entered into the house of the king, that was under the cellar; and he took from thence old clothes, and old rags, that were rotten; and he sent them down to Jeremy, into the pit, by cords. (And so when Ebedmelech had taken the men with him, he entered into the house of the king, and went down to the cellar; and he took from there some old clothes, and some old rags, that were rotten; and then he sent them down by cords, into the pit, to Jeremiah.)

¹² And Ebedmelech (the) Ethiopian said to Jeremy, Put thou [the] old clothes, and these rent and rotten things under the cubit of thine hands, and on the cords. Therefore Jeremy did so (And Jeremiah did so).

¹³ And they drew out Jeremy with cords, and led him out of the pit. Forsooth Jeremy dwelled in the porch of the prison. (And they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and pulled him out of the pit. And then Jeremiah lived in the courtyard of the prison.)

¹⁴ And king Zedekiah sent, and took (to) him Jeremy, the prophet, at the third door that was in the house of the Lord (And King Zedekiah again sent for the prophet Jeremiah, and had him brought to him at the third entrance to the House of the Lord). And the king said to Jeremy, I (shall) ask of thee a word; hide thou not anything from me.

¹⁵ Forsooth Jeremy said to Zedekiah, If I tell to thee, whether thou shalt not slay me? And if I give counsel to thee, thou shalt not hear me. (And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, If I tell thee, shalt thou not kill me? And if I give counsel to thee, shalt thou truly listen to me?)

¹⁶ Therefore Zedekiah the king swore to Jeremy privily, and said, The Lord liveth, that made to us this soul, I shall not slay thee, and I shall not betake thee into the hands of these men, that seek thy life. (And so King Zedekiah privately swore to Jeremiah, and said, As the Lord liveth, who made these souls for us, I shall not kill thee, and I shall not deliver thee into the hands of these men who seek thy life.)

¹⁷ And Jeremy said to Zedekiah, The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, If thou goest forth, and goest 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, thou and thine house. (And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saith these things, If thou goest forth, and goest out to the leaders, or the officers, of the king of Babylon, thou shalt live, and this city shall not be burned down, and thou shalt be safe, thou and thy house.)

¹⁸ Forsooth if thou goest not out to the princes of the king of Babylon, this city shall be betaken into the hands of Chaldees; and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape from the hand of them. (But if thou goest not out to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city shall be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans; and they shall burn it down, and thou shalt not escape from their hands.)

¹⁹ And king Zedekiah said to Jeremy, I am anguished for the Jews that fled over to [the] Chaldees, lest peradventure I be betaken into the hands of them, and they scorn me. (And King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, I am anguished about the Jews who fled over to the Chaldeans, lest perhaps I be delivered into their hands, and they mock me/and they harm me.)

²⁰ Forsooth Jeremy answered, and said to him, They shall not betake thee; I beseech, hear thou the voice of the Lord, which I shall speak to thee, and it shall be well to thee, and thy soul shall live. (And Jeremiah answered, and said to him, They shall not deliver thee up; I beseech thee, listen thou to the words of the Lord, which I say to thee, and it shall be well with thee, and thou shalt live.)

²¹ That if thou wilt not go out, this is the word which the Lord showed to me, (But if thou wilt not go out, this is what the Lord told me,)

²² Lo! all the women, that were left in the house of the king of Judah, shall be led out to the princes of the king of Babylon; and those women shall say, Thy peaceable men deceived thee, and had the mastery against thee; they drenched thee [down] in [the] filth, and thy feet in sliderness, and [they] went away from thee. (Lo! all the women, who were left in the house of the king of Judah, shall be led out to the officers of the king of Babylon; and those women shall say, The king’s friends have deceived him, and had the mastery over him; they have drowned him down in the filth, and his feet have slid, and now they have all gone away from him.)

²³ And all thy wives and thy sons shall be led out to [the] Chaldees, and thou shalt not escape the hands of them; but thou shalt be betaken into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn this city with fire. (And all thy wives and thy sons and daughters shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and thou shalt not escape from their hands; but thou shalt be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn down this city.)

²⁴ Therefore Zedekiah said to Jeremy, (Let) No man know these words, and thou shalt not die.

²⁵ Soothly if the princes hear, that I spake with thee, and they come to thee, and say to thee, Show thou to us what thou spakest with the king, hide thou not from us, and we shall not slay thee; and what the king spake with thee, (But if my officers hear, that I spoke with thee, and they come to thee, and say to thee, Tell thou to us what thou saidest to the king, and what the king said to thee, hide thou it not from us, and we shall not kill thee;)

²⁶ (then) thou shalt say to them, Kneelingly I setted forth my prayers before the king, that he should not command me to be led again into the house of Jonathan, and (so) I should die there.

²⁷ Therefore all the princes came to Jeremy, and asked him (And so all the officers did come to Jeremiah, and asked him); and he spake to them by all the words which the king had commanded to him, and they ceased from him; for why nothing was heard.

²⁸ Therefore Jeremy dwelled in the porch of the prison, till to the day in which Jerusalem was taken; and it was done, that Jerusalem should be taken. (And so Jeremiah lived in the courtyard of the prison, until the day when Jerusalem was taken; and indeed it was done, that Jerusalem was taken.)

6 Whatever servants be under yoke, deem they their lords worthy all honour, lest the name of the Lord and the doctrine be blasphemed^[a].

² And they that have faithful lords, despise them not, for they be brethren; but more serve they, for they be faithful and loved, which be partners of beneficence. Teach thou these things, and admonish thou these things.^[b]

³ If any man teach otherwise, and accordeth not to the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to that teaching that is by piety [and to the teaching that is after piety],

⁴ he is proud, and knoweth nothing, but languisheth about questions and strivings of words [nothing knowing, but languishing about questions and fightings of words], of the which be brought forth envies, strives, blasphemies, evil suspicions,

⁵ fightings of men, that be corrupt in soul, and that be deprived from truth, that deem winning to be piety. [fightings of men corrupt in soul, or reason, and that be deprived from truth, deeming winning to be piety.]

⁶ But a great winning is piety, with sufficience.

⁷ For we brought in nothing into this world, and no doubt, that we be not able to bear any thing away. [Forsooth we brought nothing into this world, no doubt, for we may not bear away any thing.]

⁸ But we having foods, and with what things we shall be covered, be we satisfied with these things. [Forsooth having foods, and with what things we shall be clothed, with these things be we satisfied.]

⁹ For they that will be made rich, fall into temptation, and into the snare of the devil, and into many unprofitable desires and harmful, which drown men into death and perdition.

¹⁰ For the root of all evils is covetousness, which some men coveting erred from the faith, and besetted them(selves) with many sorrows [and beset them with many sorrows].

¹¹ But, thou, man of God, flee these things; but follow thou rightwiseness [soothly follow thou rightwiseness], piety, faith, charity, patience, mildness.

¹² Strive thou a good strife of faith, catch everlasting life, into which thou art called, and hast acknowledged a good acknowledging before many witnesses.

¹³ I command to thee before God, that quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, that yielded a witnessing under Pilate of Pontii, a good confession,

¹⁴ that thou keep the commandment without wem, without reproof [irreprehensible], [till] into the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;

¹⁵ whom the blessed and alone almighty king of kings and Lord of lords shall show in his times.

¹⁶ Which alone hath undeadliness [The which alone hath immortality], and dwelleth in light, to which light no man may come; whom no man saw, neither may see; to whom glory, and honour, and empire be without end [to whom glory, and honour, and empire into without end]. Amen.

¹⁷ Command thou to the rich men of this world, that they understand not highly, neither that they hope in uncertainty of riches^[c], but in the living God, that giveth to us all things plenteously to use;

¹⁸ to do well, to be made rich in good works, lightly to give, to commune,

¹⁹ to treasure to themselves a good foundament into time to coming [into time to come], that they catch everlasting life.

²⁰ Thou Timothy, keep the thing betaken to thee [Thou Timothy, keep the deposit, or thing betaken to thee], eschewing cursed novelties of voices, and opinions of false name of knowing;

²¹ which some men promising, about the faith fell down^[d]. The grace of God be with thee. Amen.

³⁸ But thou hast put away, and despised; and hast delayed thy christ. (But thou hast rejected, and despised, and hast raged against thy anointed king.)

³⁹ Thou hast turned away the testament of thy servant; thou madest unholy his saintuary in earth. (Thou hast made void the covenant with thy servant; thou hast defiled his crown, and hast thrown it to the ground.)

⁴⁰ Thou destroyedest all the hedges thereof; thou hast set the steadfastness thereof (into) dread (thou hast brought his strongholds, or his fortresses, into ruin).

⁴¹ All men passing by the way ravished him; he is made (a) shame to his neighbours. (All who pass by him, on the way, rob him; he is shamed by his neighbours.)

⁴² Thou hast enhanced the right hand of men oppressing him; thou hast gladdened all his enemies.

⁴³ Thou hast turned away the help of his sword; and thou helpedest not him in battle (and thou hast not helped him in the battle).

⁴⁴ Thou destroyedest him from cleansing; and thou hast hurled down his seat in earth. (Thou hast destroyed his purity; and thou hast thrown down his throne to the ground.)

⁴⁵ Thou hast made less the days of his time; thou hast beshed him with shame.

⁴⁶ Lord, how long turnest thou away, into the end; shall thine ire burn out as fire? (Lord, how long turnest thou away, forever? shall thy anger always burn like fire?)

⁴⁷ Bethink thou what is my substance; for whether thou hast ordained vainly all the sons of men? (Remember thou what my substance is/how short my time is; hast thou ordained all the sons of men in vain?)

⁴⁸ Who is a man, that shall live, and shall not see death; shall (he) deliver his soul from the hand of hell? (What man shall live, and shall not see death? can he save his soul from the power of Sheol, or the land of the dead?/from the power of the grave?)

⁴⁹ Lord, where be thine eld mercies; as thou hast sworn to David in thy truth? (Lord, where be the former acts, or the earlier proofs, of thy constant love? yea, those promises that thou hast sworn to David in thy faithfulness?)

⁵⁰ Lord, be thou mindful of the shame of thy servants; (of the curses) of many heathen men, which I held together in my bosom. (Lord, remember thy servant’s shame; remember the curses of many of the heathen, which I carried in my heart.)

⁵¹ Which thine enemies, Lord, did shamefully; for they despised the changing of thy christ. (Which thy enemies, Lord, spoke shamefully to me; for they despised the footsteps of thy anointed king/for they despised the successors of thy anointed king.)

⁵² Blessed be the Lord [into] without end (Blessed be the Lord forever); be it done, be it done.

²⁸ As a city open, and without compass of walls; so is a man that may not refrain his spirit in speaking. (Like a city that is open, and without any walls surrounding it, is a man who cannot refrain his own spirit from speaking.)