Jeremiah 34

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and his entire army, and all the kingdoms of the earth that were under the authority of his hand, and all the people were making war against Jerusalem and against all of its cities, saying:

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.

2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Go, and speak to Zedekiah, the king of Judah. And you shall say to him: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will deliver this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.

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.

3 And you will not escape from his hand. Instead, you will be overtaken and captured, and you will be delivered into his hand. And your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth will speak with your mouth, and you will enter into Babylon.

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.

4 Even so, listen to the word of the Lord, Zedekiah, king of Judah: Thus says the Lord to you: You will not die by the sword.

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;

5 Instead, you will die in peace. And, in accord with the burnings of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so will they burn you. And they will mourn you, saying: ‘Alas, lord!’ For I have spoken the word, says the Lord.”

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.”

6 And Jeremiah, the prophet, spoke all these words to Zedekiah, the king of Judah, in Jerusalem.

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

7 And the army of the king of Babylon fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that remained, against Lachish and against Azekah. For only these remained out of the cities of Judah that were fortified cities.

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.

8 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after king Zedekiah had struck a pact with all the people in Jerusalem, proclaiming

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

9 that each one should release his man servant, and each one his woman servant, as a free Hebrew man and a free Hebrew woman, and that they should never be rulers over them, that is, over the Jews, their own brothers.

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

10 Then all the leaders and all the people who entered into the pact, heard that each one should release his man servant, and each one his woman servant, to be free, and that they should no longer rule over them. Therefore, they listened, and they released them.

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,

11 But later on, they turned back. And they took back again their man servants and their woman servants, whom they had released to be free. And they subjugated them as male and female servants.

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

12 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:

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

13 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I struck a pact with your fathers in the day when I led them away from the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude, saying:

“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:

14 ‘When seven years have been completed, let each one release his brother, a Hebrew, who had been sold to him. And so he will serve you for six years, and then you shall release him to be free from you.’ But your fathers did not listen to me, nor did they incline their ear.

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.

15 And today you converted, and you did what is right in my eyes, so that you proclaimed liberty, each one to his friend. And you entered into a pact in my sight, in the house in which and over which my name is invoked.

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.

16 But now you have turned back, and you have stained my name. For you have led back again, each one his man servant, and each one his woman servant, whom you had released so that they would be free and under their own authority. And you have subjugated them, so that they would be your servants and handmaids.”

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.

17 Because of this, thus says the Lord: “You have not heeded me, though you proclaimed liberty, each one to his brother and each one to his friend. Behold, I am proclaiming a liberty for you, says the Lord, to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine. And I will cause you to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth.

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.

18 And I will give over the men who have betrayed my covenant, and who have not observed the words of the covenant, to which they assented in my sight when they cut the calf into two parts and passed between its parts:

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.

19 the leaders of Judah, and the leaders of Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land, who have passed between the parts of the calf.

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,

20 And I will give them into the hands of their enemies and into the hands of those who are seeking their life. And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.

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.

21 And Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his leaders, I will give over to the hands of their enemies, and to the hands of those who are seeking their lives, and to the hands of the armies of the king of Babylon, which had withdrawn from you.

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.

22 Behold, I will command, says the Lord, and I will lead them back to this city, and they will fight against it, and seize it, and set it on fire. And I will make the cities of Judah into a desolation, for there shall be no inhabitant.”

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.”