Jeremiah 39:16

Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

'Go and say to Ebed-Melech the Cushite, This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am about to bring my words against this city for disaster and not for good, and they will happen before your eyes on that day.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

הָל֣וֹךְ וְאָמַרְתָּ֡ לְעֶבֶד־מֶ֨לֶךְ הַכּוּשִׁ֜י לֵאמֹ֗ר כֹּֽה־אָמַ֞ר יְהוָ֤ה צְבָאוֹת֙ אֱלֹהֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל הִנְנִי֩ *מבי **מֵבִ֨יא אֶת־דְּבָרַ֜י אֶל־הָעִ֥יר הַזֹּ֛את לְרָעָ֖ה וְלֹ֣א לְטוֹבָ֑ה וְהָי֥וּ לְפָנֶ֖יךָ בַּיּ֥וֹם הַהֽוּא׃

Transliteration

Hālôḵ and-ʾāmartā to-ʿebed-melek the-kûšî lēʾmōr, thus-ʾāmar YHWH ṣəbāʾôt ʾĕlōhê yiśrāʾēl: Behold-me mēbîʾ ʾet-dəbāray to-the-ʿîr the-this for-rāʿāh and-not for-ṭôbāh, and-hāyû before-you in-the-yôm the-that.

Grammar Details

• *Hālôḵ*: verb, qal infinitive absolute - going
• *ʾāmartā*: verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular + waw consecutive - and you shall say
• *ʿebed*: noun, masculine, singular, construct - servant of
• *melek*: noun, masculine, singular - king
• *kûšî*: adjective, masculine singular with definite article - the Cushite/Ethiopian
• *lēʾmōr*: preposition + qal infinitive construct - saying
• *ʾāmar*: verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular - he said
• *YHWH*: proper name - Yahweh/the LORD
• *ṣəbāʾôt*: noun, feminine, plural - hosts/armies
• *ʾĕlōhê*: noun, masculine, plural, construct - God of
• *yiśrāʾēl*: proper name - Israel
• *mēbîʾ*: verb, hiphil participle, masculine singular - bringing
• *ʾet*: direct object marker
• *dəbāray*: noun, masculine, plural + 1st person singular suffix - my words
• *ʿîr*: noun, feminine, singular with definite article - the city
• *rāʿāh*: noun, feminine, singular - evil/disaster
• *ṭôbāh*: noun, feminine, singular - good/welfare
• *hāyû*: verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural + waw consecutive - and they will be
• *yôm*: noun, masculine, singular with definite article - the day

Word Meanings

• *Hālôḵ*: go/going (emphatic)
• *ʿebed*-*melek*: Ebed-Melech (name meaning 'servant of the king')
• *kûšî*: Cushite/Ethiopian/from Cush
• *YHWH* *ṣəbāʾôt*: Yahweh of hosts/LORD of armies
• *mēbîʾ*: bringing/about to bring/going to bring
• *rāʿāh*: evil/disaster/calamity/harm
• *ṭôbāh*: good/welfare/prosperity/benefit

Other Translations

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee.

• KJV1611 – Modern English

  Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for harm and not for good; and they shall be accomplished that day before you.

• King James Version 1611 (Original)

  Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  Go, and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished before thee in that day.

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  Go, and tell Abdemelech the Morian: Thus saieth the LORDE off hoostes ye God off Israel: Beholde, the cruell and sharpe plage that I haue deuysed for this cite, will I brynge vpon them, that thou shalt se it:

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  Go and speake to Ebed-melech the blacke More, saying, Thus saith the Lorde of hostes the God of Israel, Beholde, I wil bring my wordes vpon this citie for euill, and not for good, and they shalbe accomplished in that day before thee.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  Go and tell Abedmelech the Morian, thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel: Beholde, the cruell and sharpe plague that I haue deuised for this citie wyll I bring vpon them, that thou shalt see it:

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be [accomplished] in that day before thee.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  Go, and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring my words on this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished before you in that day.

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  `Go, and thou hast spoken to Ebed-Melech the Cushite, saying: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am bringing in My words unto this city for evil, and not for good, and they have been before thee in that day.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  Go, and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished before thee in that day.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  Go, and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished before thee in that day.

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  Go and say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: See, my words will come true for this town, for evil and not for good: they will come about before your eyes on that day.

• World English Bible (2000)

  Go, and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring my words on this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished before you in that day.

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  “Go and tell Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian,‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, has said,“I will carry out against this city what I promised. It will mean disaster and not good fortune for it. When that disaster happens, you will be there to see it.

Referenced Verses

• Dan 9:12 : 12 He has carried out His words that He spoke against us and our rulers who governed us, bringing on us a great disaster. Nothing like it has ever been done under the entire heaven as what has been done in Jerusalem.
• Zech 1:6 : 6 But my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your ancestors? So they repented and said, 'As the Lord of Hosts planned to do to us, according to our ways and our deeds, so He has done to us.'
• Matt 24:35 : 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
• Josh 23:14-15 : 14 Now behold, I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls that not one word has failed of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you. All of them have been fulfilled for you; not one word has failed. 15 But just as all the good things the LORD your God promised you have come to pass, so too the LORD will bring upon you the bad things He threatened, until He has destroyed you from this good land that the LORD your God has given you.
• 2 Chr 36:21 : 21 This happened to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the time of its desolation it rested, to fulfill seventy years.
• Ps 91:8-9 : 8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. 9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, the Most High, your dwelling place,
• Ps 92:11 : 11 But You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil.
• Jer 5:14 : 14 Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Hosts, says: Because you have said these words, I am making My words in your mouth a fire, and this people the wood it consumes.
• Jer 19:11-12 : 11 And say to them, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I will break this people and this city as one breaks a potter’s jar that cannot be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room to bury.’ 12 This is what I will do to this place and to its inhabitants, declares the LORD: I will make this city like Topheth.
• Jer 21:7-9 : 7 Afterward, declares the LORD, I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, the people, and those remaining in this city from the plague, the sword, and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their lives. He will strike them down with the edge of the sword without pity, without sparing, and without mercy. 8 Now you shall also say to this people: "Thus says the LORD: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 Whoever remains in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live; they shall save their life as a prize. 10 For I have set my face against this city for disaster and not for good, declares the LORD. It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, who will burn it with fire.
• Jer 24:8-9 : 8 But like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, says the LORD, so will I treat Zedekiah, king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and those living in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror and an object of calamity among all the kingdoms of the earth—a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I drive them. 10 I will send the sword, famine, and pestilence against them until they are completely destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.
• Jer 26:15 : 15 But you should certainly know that if you put me to death, you are bringing innocent blood upon yourselves, this city, and its inhabitants, for truly the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.
• Jer 26:18 : 18 'Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah, “This is what the LORD of Hosts says: Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a pile of ruins, and the temple mount will become overgrown with thickets.”'
• Jer 26:20 : 20 Now there was another man who prophesied in the name of the LORD, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and this land in words exactly like those of Jeremiah.
• Jer 32:28-29 : 28 Therefore, this is what the LORD says: 'I am about to give this city into the hands of the Chaldeans, into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will capture it.' 29 The Chaldeans who are fighting against the city will enter it, set it on fire, and burn it along with the houses where incense was offered to Baal on their rooftops and drink offerings were poured out to other gods, provoking Me to anger.
• Jer 34:2-3 : 2 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Go and tell Zedekiah, king of Judah, 'This is what the Lord says: I am delivering this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.' 3 And you will not escape from his hand, for you will surely be captured and handed over to him. Your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he will speak directly to you. You will go to Babylon.
• Jer 34:22 : 22 Behold, I am giving a command, declares the Lord, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it with fire. And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without any inhabitants.
• Jer 35:17 : 17 Therefore, this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: 'Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster I have spoken against them because I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer.'
• Jer 36:31 : 31 I will punish him, his descendants, and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the people of Judah, all the disaster I have pronounced against them, because they have not listened to me.
• Jer 38:7-9 : 7 Now Ebed-Melech, a Cushite, an official in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate, 8 Ebed-Melech went out of the palace and said to the king, 9 "My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he will die from hunger, since there is no longer any bread in the city." 10 The king commanded Ebed-Melech the Cushite, "Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies." 11 So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went to a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from there and let them down to Jeremiah in the cistern with ropes. 12 Ebed-Melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, "Put these worn-out rags and clothes under your arms to pad the ropes." Jeremiah did so, 13 and they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.
• Jer 44:28-29 : 28 Those who escape the sword and return from Egypt to the land of Judah will be very few. Then all the remnant of Judah who came to live in Egypt will know whose word will stand—mine or theirs. 29 This will be the sign to you,’ declares the LORD, ‘that I will punish you in this place so that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for harm: