34 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah again, while King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his army were attacking Jerusalem. Soldiers from all the kingdoms that King Nebuchadnezzar ruled joined with Babylon's own soldiers to make a large army. They were attacking Jerusalem and the towns around it. 2 The Lord , Israel's God, said to Jeremiah, ‘Go to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and give him this message: The Lord says, “I will put this city under the power of the king of Babylon. He will burn it down. 3 You will not be able to escape. Babylon's soldiers will certainly take hold of you. They will take you to the king of Babylon. You will have to stand in front of the king of Babylon and answer his questions. Then you will go to Babylon as his prisoner.
4 But listen to the promise that the Lord makes to you, Zedekiah, king of Judah. I, the Lord , promise you that you will not die in a battle. 5 Instead, you will die with peace in your mind. People will burn incense to give you honour when they bury you. They did that for your ancestors who ruled as kings before you. They will do it for you too. When you die, people will weep because they are sad. They will say, ‘This is terrible! Our king has died!’ That is my promise to you, says the Lord .” ’
6 The prophet Jeremiah told all this to King Zedekiah of Judah, in Jerusalem. 7 This happened when the king of Babylon's army were attacking Jerusalem and the cities of Lachish and Azekah. Those were the only strong cities in Judah that were not yet under his power.
8 At another time, the Lord gave Jeremiah another message for King Zedekiah. Zedekiah had made an agreement with the people of Jerusalem. They all agreed to let their slaves go free. 9 Everyone in Judah who had a Hebrew slave must let their slave go free, both male and female slaves. Nobody should keep another Israelite person as their slave. 10 All the officers and the people agreed with the king that they would do this. They would not continue to have male or female slaves. They let them go free, as they had promised. 11 But later, they decided that they would not do that. They took the men and women back to work for them as slaves again. They forced them to do that.
12 Then the Lord said to Jeremiah, 13 ‘The Lord , Israel's God, says this to the people: I made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt. They had been slaves when they were there. 14 I told them, “When any Hebrew slave has worked for you for six years, you must let them go free. In the seventh year after they sold themselves to you, you must set them free.” [ a ] But your ancestors did not listen to me. They did not obey me. 15 But now, you yourselves agreed to do what pleases me. You decided to obey me. You made a serious agreement with me in the temple which is my home. You let your slaves go free. 16 But now you have turned back to your old ways. You have refused to give me honour. You had let your slaves go free, as they wanted to do. But now you have forced them to work for you as your slaves again.
17 So I, the Lord , tell you this: You have not obeyed me. You have not let your Israelite slaves become free men and women. So now I will make you free! Yes, you will be free to let war, famine or disease kill you. People of all the kingdoms in the world will see how disgusting you are. 18 I will punish the people who did not obey the agreement that they made with me. When they made that agreement, they cut a young cow into two pieces and they walked between the pieces. Because they have not obeyed their agreement, I will now cut them into pieces, like the young cow. [ b ]
19 I will punish the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the king's officers and the priests. I will punish all the people of Judah who refused to obey the agreement that they made with me. 20 I will put them under the power of their enemies. Their enemies will kill them. Birds and wild animals will eat their dead bodies as food.
21 I will also put King Zedekiah of Judah and his officers under the power of their enemies. Their enemies will want to kill them. The king of Babylon's army has stopped attacking Jerusalem for a time. But I will put King Zedekiah and his officers under their power. 22 I will command Babylon's army to return to this city. They will fight against it and they will take it. They will burn the city down. I will also cause the other towns of Judah to become heaps of stones. Nobody will live in them any more.’
34 The message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. The message came at the time when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and all the towns around it. Nebuchadnezzar had with him all his army and the armies of all the kingdoms and peoples in the empire he ruled.
2 This was the message: “This is what the Lord , the God of the people of Israel, says: Jeremiah, go to King Zedekiah of Judah and give him this message: ‘Zedekiah, this is what the Lord says: I will give the city of Jerusalem to the king of Babylon very soon, and he will burn it down. 3 Zedekiah, you will not escape from the king of Babylon. You will surely be caught and given to him. You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes. He will talk to you face to face, and you will go to Babylon. 4 But listen to the promise of the Lord , King Zedekiah of Judah. This is what the Lord says about you: You will not be killed with a sword. 5 You will die in a peaceful way. People made funeral fires to honor your ancestors, the kings who ruled before you became king. In the same way people will make a funeral fire to honor you. They will cry for you and sadly say, “Oh, my master!” I myself make this promise to you.’” This message is from the Lord .
6 So Jeremiah told all this message to Zedekiah in Jerusalem. 7 This was while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem. The army of Babylon was also fighting against the cities of Judah that had not been captured. These cities were Lachish and Azekah. These were the only fortified cities left in the land of Judah.
8 King Zedekiah had made an agreement with all the people in Jerusalem to give freedom to all the Hebrew slaves. A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah after Zedekiah had made that agreement. 9 Everyone was supposed to free their Hebrew slaves. All male and female Hebrew slaves were to be set free. No one was supposed to keep another person from the tribe of Judah in slavery. 10 So all the leaders of Judah and all the people accepted this agreement. They would free their male and female slaves so that they would no longer serve them. Everyone agreed, and so all the slaves were set free. 11 But after that, [ a ] the people who had slaves changed their minds. So they took the people they had set free and made them slaves again.
12 Then this message from the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “This is what the Lord , the God of the people of Israel, says: ‘I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, where they were slaves. When I did that, I made an agreement with them. 14 I said to your ancestors, “At the end of every seven years, everyone must set their Hebrew slaves free. If you have fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you, you must let them go free after they have served you for six years.” But your ancestors did not listen to me or pay attention to me. 15 A short time ago you changed your hearts to do what is right. Everyone set free their fellow Hebrews who were slaves. And you even made an agreement before me in the Temple that is called by my name. 16 But now you have changed your minds. You have shown that you do not honor my name because each of you has taken back the male and female slaves that you had set free. You have forced them to become slaves again.’
17 “So this is what the Lord says: ‘You people have not obeyed me. You have not given freedom to your fellow Hebrews. So, because you have not given them freedom, I will give a special kind of freedom—freedom to die in war or by disease or by hunger! This message is from the Lord . When the other nations see what I have done to you, they will all be shocked. 18 I will hand over those who broke my agreement and have not kept the promises they made before me. They cut a calf into two pieces before me and walked between the two pieces. [ b ] 19 These are the people who walked between the two pieces of the calf when they made the agreement before me: the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the important officials of the court, the priests, and the people of the land. 20 So I will give them to their enemies and to everyone who wants to kill them. Their bodies will become food for the birds of the air and for the wild animals of the earth. 21 I will give King Zedekiah of Judah and his leaders to their enemies and to everyone who wants to kill them. I will give Zedekiah and his people to the army of the king of Babylon, even though that army has left Jerusalem. [ c ] 22 But I will give the order,’ says the Lord , ‘to bring the Babylonian army back to Jerusalem. That army will fight against Jerusalem. They will capture it, set it on fire, and burn it down. And I will destroy the towns in the land of Judah. They will become empty deserts. No one will live there.’”
34 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord , when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying,
2 Thus saith the Lord , the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the Lord ; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:
3 And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
4 Yet hear the word of the Lord , O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith the Lord of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword:
5 But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the Lord .
6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,
7 When the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.
8 This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the Lord , after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;
9 That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.
10 Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go.
11 But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.
12 Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord , saying,
13 Thus saith the Lord , the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,
14 At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
15 And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
16 But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
17 Therefore thus saith the Lord ; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord , to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
18 And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,
19 The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;
20 I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.
21 And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you.
22 Behold, I will command, saith the Lord , and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.
34 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord , when ( A ) Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, with ( B ) all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his [ a ] control and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and all its cities, saying, 2 “This is what the Lord , the God of Israel says: ‘ ( C ) Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, ( D ) I am handing this city over to the king of Babylon, and ( E ) he will burn it with fire. 3 And as for you, ( F ) you will not escape from his hand, for you will assuredly be caught and handed over to him; and you will ( G ) see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you [ b ] face to face, and you will go to Babylon.’”’ 4 Yet 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 as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will ( H ) burn spices for you; and ( I ) they will mourn for you, crying , “Oh, my lord!”’ For I have spoken the word,” declares the Lord .
6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke ( J ) all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem 7 when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and all the remaining cities of Judah, that is , ( K ) Lachish and ( L ) Azekah, for they alone remained as ( M ) fortified cities among the cities of Judah.
8 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had ( N ) made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem, to ( O ) proclaim [ c ] release to them: 9 that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, a ( P ) Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, so that ( Q ) no one would keep them, his Jewish brother or sister , in bondage. 10 And all the ( R ) officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, so that no one would keep them in bondage any longer; they obeyed, and set them free . 11 But afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male servants and as female servants.
12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord , saying, 13 “This is what the Lord , the God of Israel says: ‘I ( S ) made a covenant with your forefathers on the day that I ( T ) brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, saying, 14 “ ( U ) At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who [ d ] has been sold to you and has served you for six years, and you shall send him out free from you.” But your forefathers ( V ) did not obey Me nor incline their ear to Me. 15 Although recently you had turned and ( W ) done what is right in My sight, each one proclaiming [ e ] release to his neighbor, and you had ( X ) made a covenant before Me ( Y ) in the house which is called by My name. 16 Yet you ( Z ) turned and ( AA ) profaned My name, and each person [ f ] took back his male servant and each his female servant whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your male and female servants.’
17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming [ g ] release, each one to his brother and each to his neighbor. Behold, I am ( AB ) proclaiming a [ h ] release to you,’ declares the Lord , ‘to the ( AC ) sword, to the plague, and to the famine; and I will make you a ( AD ) terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 I will give the people who have ( AE ) violated My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they ( AF ) cut the calf in two and passed between its parts— 19 the ( AG ) officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the high officials and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf— 20 I will hand them over to their enemies and to those who ( AH ) seek their lives. And their ( AI ) dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the earth. 21 ( AJ ) Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will also hand over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives, and to the army of the king of Babylon which has ( AK ) withdrawn from you. 22 Behold, I am going to give a command,’ declares the Lord , ‘and I will bring them back to this city, and they will fight against it and ( AL ) take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a ( AM ) desolation ( AN ) without inhabitant.’”
34 While Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms and peoples ( A ) in the empire he ruled were fighting against Jerusalem ( B ) and all its surrounding towns, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord : 2 “This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: Go to Zedekiah ( C ) king of Judah and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down. ( D ) 3 You will not escape from his grasp but will surely be captured and given into his hands. ( E ) You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes, and he will speak with you face to face. And you will go to Babylon.
4 “‘Yet hear the Lord ’s promise to you, Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the Lord says concerning you: You will not die by the sword; ( F ) 5 you will die peacefully. As people made a funeral fire ( G ) in honor of your predecessors, the kings who ruled before you, so they will make a fire in your honor and lament, “Alas, ( H ) master!” I myself make this promise, declares the Lord .’”
6 Then Jeremiah the prophet told all this to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, 7 while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah that were still holding out—Lachish ( I ) and Azekah. ( J ) These were the only fortified cities left in Judah.
8 The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people ( K ) in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom ( L ) for the slaves. 9 Everyone was to free their Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Hebrew in bondage. ( M ) 10 So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their male and female slaves and no longer hold them in bondage. They agreed, and set them free. 11 But afterward they changed their minds ( N ) and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again.
12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestors ( O ) when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ( P ) I said, 14 ‘Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you six years, you must let them go free.’ [ a ] ( Q ) Your ancestors, however, did not listen to me or pay attention ( R ) to me. 15 Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight: Each of you proclaimed freedom to your own people. ( S ) You even made a covenant before me in the house that bears my Name. ( T ) 16 But now you have turned around ( U ) and profaned ( V ) my name; each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished. You have forced them to become your slaves again.
17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom to your own people. So I now proclaim ‘freedom’ for you, ( W ) declares the Lord —‘freedom’ to fall by the sword, plague ( X ) and famine. ( Y ) I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth. ( Z ) 18 Those who have violated my covenant ( AA ) and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces. ( AB ) 19 The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, ( AC ) the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf, 20 I will deliver ( AD ) into the hands of their enemies who want to kill them. ( AE ) Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals. ( AF )
21 “I will deliver Zedekiah ( AG ) king of Judah and his officials ( AH ) into the hands of their enemies ( AI ) who want to kill them, to the army of the king of Babylon, ( AJ ) which has withdrawn ( AK ) from you. 22 I am going to give the order, declares the Lord , and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, take ( AL ) it and burn ( AM ) it down. And I will lay waste ( AN ) the towns of Judah so no one can live there.”
