Jeremiah 34

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, all his army, all the earthly kingdoms under his control, and all the other nations were fighting against Jerusalem and all its surrounding cities.

1 巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒率领他的军队和他统治的各邦国攻打耶路撒冷及其周围城邑时，耶和华对耶利米说：

2 The LORD, the God of Israel, told Jeremiah to go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him that this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down.

2 “以色列的上帝耶和华这样说，‘你去告诉犹大王西底迦，以色列的上帝耶和华说：看啊，我要把这城交在巴比伦王的手中，他要将城付之一炬。

3 And you yourself will not escape his grasp, but will surely be captured and delivered into his hand. You will see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face; and you will go to Babylon.

3 你必逃不出巴比伦王的手心，你必被抓，落入他手中。你必和巴比伦王面对面、眼对眼地说话，然后被带到巴比伦。

4 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the LORD says concerning you: You will not die by the sword;

4 犹大王西底迦啊！你要听耶和华关于你的话。耶和华说：你必不会死在刀剑之下，

5 you will die in peace. As spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who preceded you, so people will burn spices for you and lament, ‘Alas, O master!’ For I Myself have spoken this word, declares the LORD.”

5 你必安然去世。人们必为你烧香，像为你的先王烧香一样，他们必为你哀悼说，唉，我主啊！’这是我耶和华说的。”

6 In Jerusalem, then, Jeremiah the prophet relayed all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah

6 耶利米先知就在耶路撒冷把这番话告诉了犹大王西底迦。

7 as the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the remaining cities of Judah—against Lachish and Azekah. For these were the only fortified cities remaining in Judah.

7 那时，巴比伦王的军队正攻打耶路撒冷以及犹大仅存的两座坚城拉吉和亚西加。

8 After King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty, the word came to Jeremiah from the LORD

8 耶和华的话传给耶利米之前，西底迦王与耶路撒冷的居民立约，宣布释放自己的奴隶。

9 that each man should free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female, and no one should hold his fellow Jew in bondage.

9 各人都要释放自己的希伯来男女奴隶，谁都不应使自己的希伯来同胞做奴隶。

10 So all the officials and all the people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their menservants and maidservants and no longer hold them in bondage. They obeyed and released them,

10 所有立约的首领和人民都答应守约，不再奴役他们。他们按约释放了自己的男女奴隶。

11 but later they changed their minds and took back the menservants and maidservants they had freed, and they forced them to become slaves again.

11 但事后他们却反悔，抓回先前释放的男女奴隶，再次奴役他们。

12 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

12 那时，耶和华对耶利米说：

13 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your forefathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying:

13 “以色列的上帝耶和华这样说，‘我曾带领你们的祖先离开埃及，使他们不再受奴役，那时我与他们立约说，

14 Every seventh year, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must let him go free. But your fathers did not listen or incline their ear.

14 如果你们的希伯来同胞卖身做你们的奴隶，服侍你们六年后，到第七年你们要给他们自由。 你们的祖先却掩耳不听。

15 Recently you repented and did what pleased Me; each of you proclaimed freedom for his neighbor. You made a covenant before Me in the house that bears My Name.

15 不久前，你们回心转意，做我视为正的事，释放自己的同胞，并且在我的殿中当着我的面立了约。

16 But now you have changed your minds and profaned My name. Each of you has taken back the menservants and maidservants whom you had set at liberty to go wherever they wanted, and you have again forced them to be your slaves.

16 然而，你们却反悔，各自抓回先前释放的男女奴隶，再次奴役他们，亵渎了我的名。

17 Therefore this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed Me; you have not proclaimed freedom, each man for his brother and for his neighbor. So now I proclaim freedom for you, declares the LORD—freedom to fall by sword, by plague, and by famine! I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

17 因此耶和华说，既然你们不听我的话，不给自己的同胞自由，看啊，我必给你们自由，使你们自由地死于刀剑、瘟疫和饥荒，使你们的遭遇令天下万国惊惧。这是耶和华说的。

18 And those who have transgressed My covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before Me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces.

18–19 犹大与耶路撒冷的官员、宫廷侍臣、祭司和全体百姓曾把牛犊劈成两半，从中间走过跟我立约，后来却又违背跟我立的约，不守在我面前所立之约的规定，所以我必使他们的下场像他们劈开的牛犊一样。

19 The officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf,

20 I will deliver into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.

20 我要把他们交在想杀他们的敌人手中，他们的尸体要成为飞禽走兽的食物。

21 And I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives, to the army of the king of Babylon that had withdrawn from you.

21 我要把犹大王西底迦及其官员交在想杀他们的敌人手中，交在刚撤军的巴比伦王手中。

22 Behold, I am going to give the command, declares the LORD, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it down. And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”

22 看啊，我要吩咐他们回来攻占这城，将它付之一炬，我要使犹大的城邑荒无人烟。这是耶和华说的。’”