| 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. |
