|
Chapter 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, |
| 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. |
