Jeremias 34
1 Thus said the Lord; Make to thyself bonds and yokes, and put [them] about thy neck,
The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion, and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying,
Thus says Jehovah, the God of Israel: Go, and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus says Jehovah: 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 send them to the king of Idumea, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hands of their messengers that come to meet them at Jerusalem to Sedekias king of Juda.
And thou shall not escape out of his hand, but shall 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 shall go to Babylon.
4 And thou shalt commission them to say to their lords, Thus said the Lord God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to your lords;
Yet hear the word of Jehovah, O Zedekiah king of Judah. Thus says Jehovah concerning thee, Thou shall not die by the sword;
5 I have made the earth by my great power, and with my high arm, and I will give it to whomsoever it shall seem [good] in mine eyes.
thou shall die in peace. And with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings who were before thee, so shall they make a burning for thee. And they shall lament thee, saying, Ah lord! For I have spoken the word, says Jehovah.
6 I gave the earth to Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon to serve him, and the wild beasts of the field to labour for him.
Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah, king of Judah in Jerusalem,
when the king of Babylon's army was fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah, for these alone remained of the cities of Judah, fortified cities.
8 And the nation and kingdom, all that shall not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, with sword and famine will I visit them, saith the Lord, until they are consumed by his hand.
The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, after the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them,
9 And hearken ye not to your false prophets, nor to them that divine to you, nor to them that foretell events by dreams to you, nor to your auguries, nor your sorcerers, that say, Ye shall by no means work for the king of Babylon:
that every man should let his man-servant, and every man his maid-servant, who is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free, that none should make bondmen of them, namely, of a Jew his brother.
10 for they prophesy lies to you, to remove you far from your land.
And all the rulers and all the people obeyed, who had entered into the covenant, that everyone should let his man-servant, and everyone his maid-servant, go free, that none should make bondmen of them any more. They obeyed, and let them go.
11 But the nation which shall put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, I will even leave it upon its land, and it shall serve him, and dwell in it.
But afterwards 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 I spoke also to Sedekias king of Juda according to all these words, saying, Put your neck into [the yoke], and serve the king of Babylon.
Therefore the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,
Thus says Jehovah, 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 bondage, saying,
14 For they prophesy unrighteous [words] to you,
At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to thee, and has served thee six years. Thou shall let him go free from thee. But your fathers hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear.
15 for I sent them not, saith the Lord; and they prophesy [in] my name unjustly, that I might destroy you, and ye should perish, and your prophets, who unrighteously prophesy lies to you.
And ye were now turned, and had done that which is right in my eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor. And ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name.
16 I spoke to you, and to all this people, and to the priests, saying, Thus said the Lord; Hearken not to the words of the prophets that prophesy to you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the Lord's house shall return from Babylon: for they prophesy to you unrighteous [words].
But ye turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had let go free at their pleasure, to return. And ye brought them into subjection, to be to you for servants and for handmaids.
17 I sent them not.
Therefore thus says Jehovah: Ye have not hearkened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim to you a liberty, says Jehovah-to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. And I will make you to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth.
18 If they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is in them, let them meet me, for thus has the Lord said.
And I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it,
19 And as for the remaining vessels,
the rulers of Judah, and the rulers of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf,
20 which the king of Babylon took not, when he carried Jechonias prisoner out of Jerusalem,
I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. And their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the heavens, and to the beasts of the earth.
And I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, and his rulers, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army that has gone away from you.
22 they shall go into Babylon, saith the Lord.
Behold, I will command, says Jehovah, 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 inhabitant.
