Jeremiah 34

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth which were under his rule, and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and all its towns, saying,

The word which came unto Jeremiah from Yahweh, —when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his force and all the kingdoms of the earth the dominion of his hand, and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and against all her cities, saying:

2 The Lord, the God of Israel, has said, Go and say to Zedekiah, king of Judah, This is what the Lord has said: See, I will give this town into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will have it burned with fire:

Thus, saith Yahweh God of Israel, Go and speak unto Zedekiah king of Judah, —and say unto him—Thus, saith Yahweh, Behold me! giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire;

3 And you will not get away from him, but will certainly be taken and given up into his hands; and you will see the king of Babylon, eye to eye, and he will have talk with you, mouth to mouth, and you will go to Babylon.

And, thou, shalt not escape out of his hand, For thou shalt be, taken, And into his hand, shalt thou be delivered, —And, thine own eyes, into the eyes of the king of Babylon, shall look, And his mouth, with thy mouth, shall speak And Babylon, shalt thou enter.

4 But give ear to the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah, king of Judah; this is what the Lord has said about you: Death will not come to you by the sword:

Nevertheless, hear the word of Yahweh, O Zedekiah, king of Judah, —Thus, saith Yahweh Concerning thee, Thou shalt not die, by the sword;

5 You will come to your end in peace; and such burnings as they made for your fathers, the earlier kings before you, will be made for you; and they will be weeping for you and saying, Ah lord! for I have said the word, says the Lord.

In peace, shalt thou die, And with the burnings made for thy fathers the former kings who were before thee, so, shall they make a burning unto thee, And, with an, Alas lord! shall they lament thee, —Because of the word, I, have spoken, Declareth Yahweh.

6 Then Jeremiah the prophet said all these things to Zedekiah, king of Judah, in Jerusalem,

Then spake Jeremiah the prophet, unto Zedekiah king of Judah all these words in Jerusalem;

7 When the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the towns of Judah which had not been taken, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these were the last of the walled towns of Judah.

when, the force 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 they, remained among the cities of Judah as fortified cities.

8 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made an agreement with all the people in Jerusalem, to give news in public that servants were to be made free;

The word which came unto Jeremiah, from Yahweh, —after that King Zedekiah had solemnised a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem, proclaiming unto them liberty:

9 That every man was to let his Hebrew man-servant and his Hebrew servant-girl go free; so that no one might make use of a Jew, his countryman, as a servant:

that every man should let his servant and every man his handmaid, being a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free, —so that no man should use them as slaves, to wit a Jew his brother;

10 And this was done by all the rulers and the people who had taken part in the agreement, and every one let his man-servant and his servant-girl go free, not to be used as servants any longer; they did so, and let them go.

so then they hearkened—even all the princes and all the people who had entered into the covenant that every man should let his servant and every man his handmaid, go free, so as not to use them as slaves, any longer, —yea they hearkened, and let them go,

11 But later, they took back again the servants and the servant-girls whom they had let go free, and put them again under the yoke as servants and servant-girls.

howbeit they turned after that, and brought back the servants and the handmaids whom they had let go, free, and brought them into subjection as servants and as handmaids,

12 For this reason the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

So then the word of Yahweh came unto Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying:

13 The Lord, the God of Israel, has said, I made an agreement with your fathers on the day when I took them out of Egypt, out of the prison-house, saying,

Thus, saith Yahweh God of Israel, —I myself, solemnised a covenant with your fathers, in the day when I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves saying:

14 At the end of seven years every man is to let go his countryman who is a Hebrew, who has become yours for a price and has been your servant for six years; you are to let him go free: but your fathers gave no attention and did not give ear.

At the end of seven years, shall ye let go every man his brother, being a Hebrew, who shall sell himself unto thee and serve thee, six years, then shalt thou let him go, free, from thee, Howbeit your fathers hearkened not unto me neither inclined their ear.

15 And now, turning away from evil, you had done what is right in my eyes, giving a public undertaking for every man to make his neighbour free; and you had made an agreement before me in the house which is named by my name:

And, though, ye, just now turned and did that which was right in mine eyes, by proclaiming liberty, every man to his neighbour, —and solemnised a covenant before me, in the house on which my Name hath been called,

16 But again you have put shame on my name, and you have taken back, every one his man-servant and his servant-girl, whom you had sent away free, and you have put them under the yoke again to be your servants and servant-girls.

yet have ye turned and profaned my Name, and brought back, every man his servant and every man his hand-maid, whom ye had let go, free, at their own desire, —and have brought them into subjection, to become your servants and handmaids.

17 And so the Lord has said, You have not given ear to me and undertaken publicly, every man to let loose his countryman and his neighbour: see, I undertake to let loose against you the sword and disease and need of food; and I will send you wandering among all the kingdoms of the earth.

Therefore—Thus, saith Yahweh, Ye, have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every man to his brother and every man to his neighbour: Behold me! proclaiming, to you, a liberty: Declareth Yahweh unto the sword, unto the pestilence, and unto the famine, so will I make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth;

18 And I will give the men who have gone against my agreement and have not given effect to the words of the agreement which they made before me, when the ox was cut in two and they went between the parts of it,

and will give the men who are transgressing my covenant, in that they have not confirmed the words of the covenant, which they solemnised, before me, when they cut the calf, in twain, and passed between the parts thereof;

19 The rulers of Judah and the rulers of Jerusalem, the unsexed servants and the priests and all the people of the land who went between the parts of the ox,

even the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land, —who passed between the parts of the calf,

20 Even these I will give up into the hands of their haters and into the hands of those who have designs against their lives: and their dead bodies will become food for the birds of heaven and the beasts of the earth.

yea I will give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them who are seeking their life, —and their dead bodies shall become food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth.

21 And Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his rulers I will give into the hands of their haters and into the hands of those who have designs against their lives, and into the hands of the king of Babylon's army which has gone away from you.

Zedekiah king of Judah also with his princes, will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them who are seeking their life, —even into the hand of the force of the king of Babylon, who are going up from you.

22 See, I will give orders, says the Lord, and make them come back to this town; and they will make war on it and take it and have it burned with fire: and I will make the towns of Judah waste and unpeopled.

Behold me! giving command, Declareth Yahweh, and I will bring them back unto this city, and they will fight against it and capture it, and consume it with fire, —and, the cities of Judah, will I make too desolate to have an inhabitant.