Jeremiah 34
34
1The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah — and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his force, and all kingdoms of the land of the dominion of his hand, and all the peoples are fighting against Jerusalem, and against all its cities — saying:
2‘Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel: Go, and thou hast spoken unto Zedekiah king of Judah, and hast said unto him, Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he hath burned it with fire,
3and thou, thou dost not escape out of his hand, for thou art certainly caught, and into his hand thou art given, and thine eyes see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth with thy mouth speaketh, and Babylon thou enterest.
4‘Only, hear a word of Jehovah, O Zedekiah king of Judah, Thus said Jehovah unto thee: Thou dost not die by sword,
5in peace thou diest, and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings who have been before thee, so they make a burning for thee; and Ah, lord, they lament for thee, for the word I have spoken — an affirmation of Jehovah.’
6And Jeremiah the prophet speaketh unto Zedekiah king of Judah all these words in Jerusalem,
7and the forces of the king of Babylon are fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that are left — against Lachish, and against Azekah, for these have been left among the cities of Judah, cities of fortresses.
8The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after the making by the king Zedekiah of a covenant with all the people who [are] in Jerusalem, to proclaim to them liberty,
9to send out each his man-servant, and each his maid-servant — the Hebrew and the Hebrewess — free, so as not to lay service on them, any on a Jew his brother;
10and hearken do all the heads, and all the people who have come in to the covenant to send forth each his man-servant and each his maid-servant free, so as not to lay service on them any more, yea, they hearken, and send them away;
11and they turn afterwards, and cause the men-servants and the maid-servants to return, whom they had sent forth free, and they subdue them for men-servants and for maidservants.
12And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying:
13‘Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I — I made a covenant with your fathers in the day of My bringing them forth from the land of Egypt, from a house of servants, saying,
14At the end of seven years ye do send forth each his brother, the Hebrew, who is sold to thee, and hath served thee six years, yea, thou hast sent him forth free from thee: and your fathers hearkened not unto Me, nor inclined their ear.
15‘And ye turn back, ye to-day, and ye do that which is right in Mine eyes, to proclaim liberty each to his neighbour, and ye make a covenant before Me in the house over which My name is called.
16And — ye turn back, and pollute My name, and ye cause each his man-servant and each his maid-servant, whom he had sent forth free, (at their pleasure,) to return, and ye subdue them to be to you for men-servants and for maid-servants.
17‘Therefore, thus said Jehovah: Ye have not hearkened unto Me to proclaim freedom, each to his brother, and each to his neighbour; lo, I am proclaiming to you liberty — an affirmation of Jehovah — unto the sword, unto the pestilence, and unto the famine, and I have given you for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth.
18‘And I have given the men who are transgressing My covenant, who have not established the words of the covenant that they have made before Me, by the calf, that they have cut in two, and pass through between its pieces —
19heads of Judah, and heads of Jerusalem, the officers, and the priests, and all the people of the land those passing through between the pieces of the calf —
20yea, I have given them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their soul, and their carcase hath been for food to the fowl of the heavens, and to the beast of the earth.
21‘And Zedekiah king of Judah, and his heads, I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their soul, and into the hand of the forces of the king of Babylon, that are going up from off you.
22Lo, I am commanding — an affirmation of Jehovah — and have brought them back unto this city, and they have fought against it, and captured it, and burned it with fire, and the cities of Judah I do make a desolation — without inhabitant.’
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Jeremiah 34: YLT98
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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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