Jeremiah 34

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, all his army, all the earthly kingdoms under his control, and all the other nations were fighting against Jerusalem and all its surrounding cities.

The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the country ruled by his power, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all its cities, saying,

2 The LORD, the God of Israel, told Jeremiah to go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him that this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down.

Thus hath said the Lord, the God of Israel, Go and speak to Zedekiah the king of Judah, and say to him, Thus hath said the Lord, Behold, I will give up this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, that he may burn it with fire:

3 And you yourself will not escape his grasp, but will surely be captured and delivered into his hand. You will see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face; and you will go to Babylon.

And thou thyself shalt not escape out of his hand; but thou shalt surely be caught, and be delivered into his hand; and thy eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak with thy mouth, and to Babylon shalt thou go.

4 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the LORD says concerning you: You will not die by the sword;

Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah, Thus hath said the Lord respecting thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword:

5 you will die in peace. As spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who preceded you, so people will burn spices for you and lament, ‘Alas, O master!’ For I Myself have spoken this word, declares the LORD.”

In peace shalt thou die; and as burnings were made for thy fathers, the former kings who were before thee, so shall they make burnings for thee; and “Ah lord” shall they lament for thee; for I have spoken the word, saith the Lord.

6 In Jerusalem, then, Jeremiah the prophet relayed all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah

And Jeremiah the prophet spoke unto Zedekiah the king of Judah all these words in Jerusalem,

7 as the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the remaining cities of Judah—against Lachish and Azekah. For these were the only fortified cities remaining in Judah.

When the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against 'Azekah; for these had been left of the cities of Judah as fortified cities.

8 After King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty, the word came to Jeremiah from the LORD

The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim among themselves freedom;

9 that each man should free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female, and no one should hold his fellow Jew in bondage.

That every man should dismiss his man-servant, and every man his maid-servant, being a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, free; so that no man among them should exact labor of a Jew, his brother.

10 So all the officials and all the people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their menservants and maidservants and no longer hold them in bondage. They obeyed and released them,

And all the princes had hearkened, with all the people, who had entered into the covenant, that every one should dismiss his man-servant, and every one his maid-servant, free, that no one should exact labor of them any more: and they had obeyed, and dismissed them.

11 but later they changed their minds and took back the menservants and maidservants they had freed, and they forced them to become slaves again.

But they had turned afterward, and they had brought back the men-servants and the maid-servants whom they had dismissed as free, and had subjected them to become men-servants and maid-servants.

12 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

And the word of the Lord [then] came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

13 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your forefathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying:

Thus hath said the Lord, the God of Israel, —I myself made a covenant with your fathers on the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,

14 Every seventh year, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must let him go free. But your fathers did not listen or incline their ear.

At the end of seven years shall ye dismiss every man his brother the Hebrew, who may have been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, then shalt thou dismiss him from thee; but your fathers hearkened not unto me, and inclined not their ear.

15 Recently you repented and did what pleased Me; each of you proclaimed freedom for his neighbor. You made a covenant before Me in the house that bears My Name.

And ye had turned this day, and done what is right in my eyes, to proclaim freedom every man to his neighbor; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house over which my name is called;

16 But now you have changed your minds and profaned My name. Each of you has taken back the menservants and maidservants whom you had set at liberty to go wherever they wanted, and you have again forced them to be your slaves.

But ye have turned again, and profaned my name, and ye have brought back every man his man-servant, and every man his woman-servant, whom ye had dismissed as free at their pleasure, and have subjected them to be unto you for men-servants and for women-servants.

17 Therefore this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed Me; you have not proclaimed freedom, each man for his brother and for his neighbor. So now I proclaim freedom for you, declares the LORD—freedom to fall by sword, by plague, and by famine! I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

Therefore thus hath said the Lord, Ye indeed have not hearkened unto me, to proclaim freedom, every one to his brother, and every one to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim a freedom over you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you a horror unto all the kingdoms of the earth.

18 And those who have transgressed My covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before Me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces.

And I will give up the men that have transgressed my covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they had made before me, at the calf which they cut in twain, and between the parts whereof they passed,

19 The officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf,

The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the court-servants, and the priests, and all the people of the land, who have passed between the parts of the calf;

20 I will deliver into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.

[Yea] I will give them up into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life; and their dead bodies shall become food unto the fowls of the heavens, and to the beasts of the earth.

21 And I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives, to the army of the king of Babylon that had withdrawn from you.

And Zedekiah the king of Judah and his princes will I give up into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, that are [now] gone away from you.

22 Behold, I am going to give the command, declares the LORD, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it down. And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”

Behold, I will command, speaketh the Lord, and I will bring them back to this city; and they shall fight against it, and capture it, and burn it with fire: and the cities of Judah will I make a desert without an inhabitant.