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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Jeremiah 34: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 34
34
Freedom to the Slaves
1 God’s Message to Jeremiah at the time King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon mounted an all-out attack on Jerusalem and all the towns around it with his armies and allies and everyone he could muster:
2-3“I, God, the God of Israel, direct you to go and tell Zedekiah king of Judah: ‘This is God’s Message. Listen to me. I am going to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he is going to burn it to the ground. And don’t think you’ll get away. You’ll be captured and be his prisoner. You will have a personal confrontation with the king of Babylon and be taken off with him, captive, to Babylon.
4-5“‘But listen, O Zedekiah king of Judah, to the rest of the Message of God. You won’t be killed. You’ll die a peaceful death. They will honor you with funeral rites as they honored your ancestors, the kings who preceded you. They will properly mourn your death, weeping, “Master, master!” This is a solemn promise. God’s Decree.’”
6-7The prophet Jeremiah gave this Message to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, gave it to him word for word. It was at the very time that the king of Babylon was mounting his all-out attack on Jerusalem and whatever cities in Judah that were still standing—only Lachish and Azekah, as it turned out (they were the only fortified cities left in Judah).
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8-10 God delivered a Message to Jeremiah after King Zedekiah made a covenant with the people of Jerusalem to decree freedom to the slaves who were Hebrews, both men and women. The covenant stipulated that no one in Judah would own a fellow Jew as a slave. All the leaders and people who had signed the covenant set free the slaves, men and women alike.
11But a little while later, they reneged on the covenant, broke their promise and forced their former slaves to become slaves again.
12-14Then Jeremiah received this Message from God: “God, the God of Israel, says, ‘I made a covenant with your ancestors when I delivered them out of their slavery in Egypt. At the time I made it clear: “At the end of seven years, each of you must free any fellow Hebrew who has had to sell himself to you. After he has served six years, set him free.” But your ancestors totally ignored me.
15-16“‘And now, you—what have you done? First you turned back to the right way and did the right thing, decreeing freedom for your brothers and sisters—and you made it official in a solemn covenant in my Temple. And then you turned right around and broke your word, making a mockery of both me and the covenant, and made them all slaves again, these men and women you’d just set free. You forced them back into slavery.
17-20“‘So here is what I, God, have to say: You have not obeyed me and set your brothers and sisters free. Here is what I’m going to do: I’m going to set you free—God’s Decree—free to get killed in war or by disease or by starvation. I’ll make you a spectacle of horror. People all over the world will take one look at you and shudder. Everyone who violated my covenant, who didn’t do what was solemnly promised in the covenant ceremony when they split the young bull into two halves and walked between them, all those people that day who walked between the two halves of the bull—leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, palace officials, priests, and all the rest of the people—I’m handing the lot of them over to their enemies who are out to kill them. Their dead bodies will be carrion food for vultures and stray dogs.
21-22“‘As for Zedekiah king of Judah and his palace staff, I’ll also hand them over to their enemies, who are out to kill them. The army of the king of Babylon has pulled back for a time, but not for long, for I’m going to issue orders that will bring them back to this city. They’ll attack and take it and burn it to the ground. The surrounding cities of Judah will fare no better. I’ll turn them into ghost towns, unlivable and unlived in.’” God’s Decree.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.