Jeremiah 34
34
Zedekiah Is Warned
1Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and all his armies were fighting against Jerusalem. They were also fighting against all the towns around it. All the kingdoms and nations Nebuchadnezzar ruled over were helping him. At that time a message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. The Lord said, 2“I am the Lord, the God of Israel. Go to Zedekiah, the king of Judah. Tell him, ‘The Lord says, “I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon. He will burn it down. 3You will not escape from his power. You will certainly be captured. You will be handed over to him. You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes. He will speak with you face to face. And you will go to Babylon.
4“ ‘ “But listen to the Lord’s promise to you, Zedekiah king of Judah. I say that you will not be killed by a sword. 5You will die in a peaceful way. People made fires to honor the kings who died before you. In the same way, they will make a fire in your honor. They will mourn for you. They will say, ‘My poor master!’ I myself make this promise,” announces the Lord.’ ”
6Then Jeremiah the prophet told all this to King Zedekiah in Jerusalem. 7At that time Nebuchadnezzar’s armies were fighting against Jerusalem. They were also fighting against Lachish and Azekah. These two cities were still holding out. They were the only cities left in Judah that had high walls around them.
The People Set Their Slaves Free
8A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem. He had told them to set their Hebrew slaves free. 9All of them had to do this. That applied to male and female slaves alike. No one was allowed to hold another Hebrew as a slave. 10So all the officials and people entered into this covenant. They agreed to set their male and female slaves free. They agreed not to hold them as slaves anymore. Instead, they set them free. 11But later they changed their minds. They took back the people they had set free. They made them slaves again.
12Then a message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. 13The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, “I made a covenant with your people of long ago. I brought them out of Egypt. That is the land where they were slaves. I said, 14‘Every seventh year you must set your people free. Each of you must set free all the Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. Let them serve you for six years. Then you must let them go free.’ (Deuteronomy 15:12) But your people of long ago did not listen to me. They did not pay any attention to me. 15Recently you turned away from your sins. You did what is right in my eyes. Each of you set your Hebrew slaves free. You even made a covenant in front of me. You did it in the house where I have put my Name. 16But now you have turned around. You have treated my name as if it were not holy. Each of you has taken back your male and female slaves. You had set them free to go where they wished. But now you have forced them to become your slaves again.”
17So the Lord says, “You have not obeyed me. You have not set your Hebrew slaves free. So now I will set you free,” announces the Lord. “I will set you free to be destroyed by war, plague and hunger. I will make all the kingdoms on earth displeased with you. 18Those people who have broken my covenant will be punished. They have not lived up to the terms of the covenant they made in front of me. When you made that covenant, you cut a calf in two. Then you walked between its pieces. Now I will cut you to pieces. 19That includes all of you who walked between the pieces of the calf. It includes the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials and the priests. It also includes some of the people of the land. 20So I will hand over all those people to their enemies who want to kill them. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.
21“I will hand over King Zedekiah and his officials to their enemies. I will hand them over to those who want to kill them. I will hand them over to the armies of the king of Babylon. They have now pulled back from you. 22But I am going to give an order,” announces the Lord. “I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it. They will capture it and burn it down. And I will completely destroy the towns of Judah. No one will be able to live there.”
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Jeremiah 34: NIrV
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Jeremiah 34
34
Zedekiah Warned by God
1The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, #2 Kin. 25:1; Jer. 32:1, 2; 39:1; 52:4when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, #Jer. 1:15; 25:9; Dan. 2:37, 38all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem and all its cities, saying, 2“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Go and #2 Chr. 36:11, 12; Jer. 22:1, 2; 37:1, 2speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, #2 Kin. 25:9; Jer. 21:10; 32:3, 28I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. 3And #2 Kin. 25:4, 5; Jer. 21:7; 52:7–11you shall not escape from his hand, but shall surely be taken and delivered into his hand; your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, he shall speak with you #2 Kin. 25:6, 7; Jer. 32:4; 39:5, 6face to face, and you shall go to Babylon.’ ” ’ 4Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the Lord concerning you: ‘You shall not die by the sword. 5You shall die in peace; as in #2 Chr. 16:14; 21:19the ceremonies of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, #Dan. 2:46so they shall burn incense for you and #Jer. 22:18lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord!” For I have pronounced the word, says the Lord.’ ”
6Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, 7when the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and Azekah; for only #2 Kin. 18:13; 19:8; 2 Chr. 11:5, 9these fortified cities remained of the cities of Judah.
Treacherous Treatment of Slaves
8This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem to proclaim #Ex. 21:2; Lev. 25:10; Neh. 5:1–13; Is. 58:6; Jer. 34:14, 17liberty to them: 9#Neh. 5:11that every man should set free his male and female slave—a Hebrew man or woman—#Lev. 25:39–46that no one should keep a Jewish brother in bondage. 10Now when all the princes and all the people, who had entered into the covenant, heard that everyone should set free his male and female slaves, that no one should keep them in bondage anymore, they obeyed and let them go. 11But afterward they changed their minds and made the male and female slaves return, whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male and female slaves.
12Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 13“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I made a #Ex. 24:3, 7, 8; Deut. 5:2, 3, 27; Jer. 31:32covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying, 14“At the end of #Ex. 21:2; 23:10; Deut. 15:12; 1 Kin. 9:22seven years let every man set free his Hebrew brother, who has been sold to him; and when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you.” But your fathers did not obey Me nor incline their ear. 15Then you recently turned and did what was right in My sight—every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor; and you #2 Kin. 23:3; Neh. 10:29made a covenant before Me #Jer. 7:10in the house which is called by My name. 16Then you turned around and #Ex. 20:7; Lev. 19:12profaned My name, and every one of you brought back his male and female slaves, whom you had set at liberty, at their pleasure, and brought them back into subjection, to be your male and female slaves.’
17“Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and every one to his neighbor. #Lev. 26:34, 35; Esth. 7:10; Dan. 6:24; (Matt. 7:2; Gal. 6:7); James 2:13Behold, I proclaim liberty to you,’ says the Lord—#Jer. 32:24, 36‘to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine! And I will deliver you to #Deut. 28:25, 64; Jer. 29:18trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth. 18And I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when #Gen. 15:10, 17they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it— 19the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf— 20I will #2 Kin. 25:19–21; Jer. 22:25give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their #Deut. 28:26; 1 Sam. 17:44, 46; 1 Kin. 14:11; 16:4; Ps. 79:2; Jer. 7:33; 16:4; 19:7dead bodies shall be for meat for the birds of the heaven and the beasts of the earth. 21And I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army #Jer. 37:5–11; 39:4–7which has gone back from you. 22#Jer. 37:8, 10Behold, I will command,’ says the Lord, ‘and cause them to return to this city. They will fight against it #Jer. 38:3; 39:1, 2, 8; 52:7, 13and take it and burn it with fire; and #Jer. 9:11; 44:2, 6I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.’ ”
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.