The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, (when Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth, that were under the power of his hand, and all the people fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities thereof,) saying:

Verbum quod factum est ad Jeremiam a Domino quando Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis, et omnis exercitus ejus, universaque regna terræ quæ erant sub potestate manus ejus, et omnes populi, bellabant contra Jerusalem, et contra omnes urbes ejus, dicens:

The word of the Lord came to Jeremias at the time when king Nabuchodonosor of Babylon, at the head of his own army, with vassal kingdoms and peoples to aid him, levied war on Jerusalem and its daughter cities.

Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Go, and speak to Sedecias king of Juda, and say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will deliver this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.

Hæc dicit Dominus Deus Israël: Vade, et loquere ad Sedeciam regem Juda, et dices ad eum: Hæc dicit Dominus: Ecce ego tradam civitatem hanc in manus regis Babylonis, et succendet eam igni:

This was the message sent by the Lord God of Israel: Go and warn Sedecias, king of Juda, in my name that I mean to hand over this city to the Babylonian king, who will burn it to the ground.

And thou shalt not escape out of his hand: but thou shalt surely be taken, and thou shalt be delivered into his hand: and thy eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak with thy mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.

et tu non effugies de manu ejus, sed comprehensione capieris, et in manu ejus traderis: et oculi tui oculos regis Babylonis videbunt, et os ejus cum ore tuo loquetur, et Babylonem introibis.

And add this besides: Thou thyself wilt not escape from him; they will catch thee, sure enough, and hand thee over to him; thou and the king of Babylon shall have speech together, meet face to face, and to Babylon thou shalt go.

Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Sedecias king of Juda: Thus saith the Lord to thee: Thou shalt not die by the sword.

Attamen audi verbum Domini, Sedecia, rex Juda: Hæc dicit Dominus ad te: Non morieris in gladio,

Wouldst thou but listen, King Sedecias of Juda, to the Lord’s bidding! Die by the sword, he tells thee, thou shouldst not;

But thou shalt die in peace, and according to the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings that were before thee, so shall they burn thee: and they shall mourn for thee, saying: Alas, Lord: for I have spoken the word, saith the Lord.

sed in pace morieris: et secundum combustiones patrum tuorum, regum priorum qui fuerunt ante te, sic comburent te: et: Væ domine, plangent te: quia verbum ego locutus sum, dicit Dominus.

peaceful thy death should be, and they should make such burning for thee as they made for thy fathers that reigned before thee, raise such cries of lamentation, Alas, what a king was this! This is my promise to thee, the Lord says.

And Jeremias the prophet spoke all these words to Sedecias the king of Juda in Jerusalem.

Et locutus est Jeremias propheta ad Sedeciam regem Juda universa verba hæc in Jerusalem.

All this king Sedecias of Juda must hear from the prophet Jeremias, there in Jerusalem;

And the army of the king of Babylon fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Juda that were left, against Lachis, and against Azecha: for these remained of the cities of Juda, fenced cities.

Et exercitus regis Babylonis pugnabat contra Jerusalem, et contra omnes civitates Juda quæ reliquæ erant, contra Lachis et contra Azecha: hæ enim supererant de civitatibus Juda, urbes munitæ.

and still the Babylonian army pressed hard on the city, and on those other cities of Juda that were left, Lachis and Azecha; the rest of the fortified cities had already been taken.

The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, after that king Sedecias had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem making a proclamation:

Verbum quod factum est ad Jeremiam a Domino, postquam percussit rex Sedecias fœdus cum omni populo in Jerusalem, prædicans

Here is another message the Lord entrusted to Jeremias, and this was the occasion of it. King Sedecias had bound the citizens of Jerusalem by a covenant;

That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, go free: and that they should not lord it over them, to wit, over the Jews their brethren.

ut dimitteret unusquisque servum suum et unusquisque ancillam suam, Hebræum et Hebræam, liberos, et nequaquam dominarentur eis, id est, in Judæo et fratre suo.

all alike were to set free their slaves and handmaids that were of Hebrew blood; would they play the master to their own Jewish kinsfolk?

And all the princes, and all the people who entered into the covenant, heard that every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant go free, and should no more have dominion over them: and they obeyed, and let them go free.

Audierunt ergo omnes principes et universus populus qui inierant pactum ut dimitteret unusquisque servum suum et unusquisque ancillam suam liberos, et ultra non dominarentur eis: audierunt igitur, et dimiserunt.

On hearing the proclamation, nobles and common people alike had agreed to release slave and handmaid, and exempt them from all service henceforward; and this they did obediently enough;

But afterwards they turned: and brought back again their servants and their handmaids, whom they had let go free, and brought them into subjection as menservants and maidservants.

Et conversi sunt deinceps: et retraxerunt servos et ancillas suas quos dimiserant liberos, et subjugaverunt in famulos et famulas.

but afterwards they changed their minds, haled them off, men and women, and reduced them to slavery once again.

And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias from the Lord, saying:

Et factum est verbum Domini ad Jeremiam a Domino, dicens:

Then it was word came from the Lord to Jeremias, and thus the divine message ran:

Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying:

Hæc dicit Dominus Deus Israël: Ego percussi fœdus cum patribus vestris in die qua eduxi eos de terra Ægypti, de domo servitutis, dicens:

Word from the Lord God of Israel! I made a covenant with your fathers, when I rescued them from their place of bondage in Egypt.

At the end of seven years, let ye go every man his brother being a Hebrew, who hath been sold to thee, so he shall serve thee six years: and thou shalt let him go free from thee: and your fathers did not hearken to me, nor did they incline their ear.

Cum completi fuerint septem anni, dimittat unusquisque fratrem suum Hebræum, qui venditus est ei: et serviet tibi sex annis, et dimittes eum a te liberum: et non audierunt patres vestri me, nec inclinaverunt aurem suam.

Seven years up, every slave sold in bondage to his fellow Hebrew must go free; six years of service, and then release. Your fathers would not listen, turned a deaf ear to me;

And you turned to day, and did that which was right in my eyes, in proclaiming liberty every one to his brother: and you made a covenant in my sight, in the house upon which my name is invocated.

Et conversi estis vos hodie, et fecistis quod rectum est in oculis meis, ut prædicaretis libertatem unusquisque ad amicum suum: et inistis pactum in conspectu meo, in domo in qua invocatum est nomen meum super eam:

but you, to-day, have thought better of it, and done my will, proclaiming liberty to your fellow-countrymen; you have sworn it in my presence, in the house that is the shrine of my name.

And you are fallen back, and have defiled my name: and you have brought back again every man his manservant, and every man his maidservant, whom you had let go free, and set at liberty: and you have brought them into subjection to be your servants and handmaids.

et reversi estis, et commaculastis nomen meum, et reduxistis unusquisque servum suum et unusquisque ancillam suam quos dimiseratis ut essent liberi et suæ potestatis, et subjugastis eos ut sint vobis servi et ancillæ.

And then you went back, and dragged my name in the dust! You would claim them afresh, men and women servants you had set free, now their own masters; they must be your servants and handmaids still.

Therefore thus saith the Lord: You have not hearkened to me, in proclaiming liberty every man to his brother and every man to his friend: behold I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine: and I will cause you to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth.

Propterea hæc dicit Dominus: Vos non audistis me, ut prædicaretis libertatem unusquisque fratri suo et unusquisque amico suo: ecce ego prædico vobis libertatem, ait Dominus, ad gladium, ad pestem, et ad famem, et dabo vos in commotionem cunctis regnis terræ.

This sentence, then, the Lord pronounces: You have not obeyed me, by granting freedom to your own brethren and neighbours, and here is the freedom I mean to grant you in return; freedom of the sword, freedom of the famine, freedom of the pestilence! A bane I will make you to all the kingdoms of earth.

And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, and have not performed the words of the covenant which they agreed to in my presence, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts thereof:

Et dabo viros qui prævaricantur fœdus meum, et non observaverunt verba fœderis quibus assensi sunt in conspectu meo, vitulum quem conciderunt in duas partes, et transierunt inter divisiones ejus,

I will have no more of them, the men who transgress my covenant, have no respect for the agreement they made in my own presence, the calf they cut in two and walked between the slices of it,

The princes of Juda, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land that passed between the parts of the calf:

principes Juda et principes Jerusalem, eunuchi et sacerdotes, et omnis populus terræ, qui transierunt inter divisiones vituli:

nobles of Juda and Jerusalem, chamberlains and priests, and all the common folk that passed between share and share.

And I will give them into the hands of their enemies, and into the hands of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat to the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the earth.

et dabo eos in manus inimicorum suorum, et in manus quærentium animam eorum, et erit morticinum eorum in escam volatilibus cæli et bestiis terræ.

I mean to give them up into the hands of enemies that are sworn upon their lives; bird in air and beast on earth shall prey upon that carrion of theirs.

And Sedecias the king of Juda, and his princes, I will give into the hands of their enemies, and into the hands of them that seek their lives, and into the hands of the armies of the king of Babylon, which are gone from you.

Et Sedeciam regem Juda, et principes ejus, dabo in manus inimicorum suorum, et in manus quærentium animas eorum, et in manus exercituum regis Babylonis, qui recesserunt a vobis.

Sedecias, king of Juda, and his nobles, shall fall into the hands of pitiless enemies, the armies of Babylon, that now give you a respite.

Behold I will command, saith the Lord, and I will bring them again to this city, and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Juda a desolation, without an inhabitant.

Ecce ego præcipio, dicit Dominus, et reducam eos in civitatem hanc, et præliabuntur adversus eam, et capient eam, et incendent igni: et civitates Juda dabo in solitudinem, eo quod non sit habitator.

These, at my command, shall march on this city again, lay siege to it, and capture it, and burn it to the ground; and I will make the townships of Juda into a desert, never a soul to dwell there.