Jeremiah 34
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD. At that time Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his whole army, all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion, and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all its towns:
2 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: “Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah. Tell him: ‘This is what the LORD says: “I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.
3 You will not escape his hand; you will certainly be captured and handed over to him. Your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Babylon, he will speak with you face to face, and you will go to Babylon.
4 But hear the word of the LORD, Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the LORD says concerning you: You will not die by the sword.
5 You will die in peace. And just as they burned incense in honor of your ancestors, the kings who came before you, so they will burn incense in your honor. They will mourn for you, saying, ‘Alas, my lord!’ For I have spoken this word,” declares the LORD.’”
6 The prophet Jeremiah spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem.
7 The army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and all the towns of Judah that remained: Lachish and Azekah, for these were the only fortified towns of Judah still left.
8 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom to them:
9 Everyone was to set free his Hebrew male and female slaves, so that no one would keep a fellow Jew, his brother, enslaved.
10 All the officials and all the people who had entered the covenant agreed that each would set free his male and female slaves, and that no one would keep them enslaved any longer. They agreed and set them free.
11 But afterward they changed their minds and brought back the male and female slaves they had set free, and forced them into slavery again.
12 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
13 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: “I made a covenant with your ancestors on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. I said:
14 ‘At the end of every seven years, each of you must set free any fellow Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you for six years; you must let him go free.’ But your ancestors would not listen to me or pay attention.
15 Today you turned back and did what was right in my sight: each of you proclaimed freedom for your neighbor. You made a covenant before me in the house that bears my name.
16 But you changed your minds and profaned my name: each of you brought back the male and female slaves you had set free, each to live as they wished, and forced them to be your slaves again.
17 Therefore, this is what the LORD says: ‘You have not listened to me by proclaiming freedom, each to your fellow and your neighbor. Look, I proclaim freedom for you—to the sword, to plague, and to famine,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will make you an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
18 I will hand over the men who broke my covenant, who did not keep the terms of the covenant they made before me: the calf they cut in two and then passed between its pieces.
19 These are the leaders of Judah, the leaders of Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf.
20 I will hand them over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.
21 I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials to their enemies and to those who seek their lives, and to the army of the king of Babylon, which has withdrawn from you.
22 Look, I am giving the order,” declares the LORD, “and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it with fire. I will make the towns of Judah a desolation, with no one living there.’”
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