Jeremiah
34:1 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,
34:2 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:
34:3 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.
34:4 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:
34:5 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.
34:6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of
Judah in Jerusalem,
34:7 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.
34:8 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;
34:9 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.
34:10 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.
34:11 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.
34:12 Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
34:13 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,
34:14 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.
34:15 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:
34:16 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.
34:17 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.
34:18 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,
34:19 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;
34:20 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.
34:21 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.
34:22 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.
