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:

Thus said the Lord; Make to yourself bonds and yokes, and put [them] about your neck,

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.

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 shall 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.

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.

And you shall commission them to say to their lords, Thus said the Lord God of Israel; Thus shall you say to your lords;

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.”

I have made the earth by my great power, and with my high arm, and I will give it to whoever it shall seem [good] in mine eyes.

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

I gave the earth to Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon to serve him, and the wild beasts of the field to labor for him.

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.

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

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, says the Lord, until they are consumed by his hand.

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.

And listen you 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, You shall by no means work for the king of Babylon:

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.

for they prophesy lies to you, to remove you far from your land.

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 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.

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

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.

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:

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.

For they prophesy unrighteous [words] to you,

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.

for I sent them not, says the Lord; and they prophesy [in] my name unjustly, that I might destroy you, and you should perish, and your prophets, who unrighteously prophesy lies to you.

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.”

I spoke to you, and to all this people, and to the priests, saying, Thus said the Lord; Listen 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].

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.

I sent them not.

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:

If they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is in them, let them meet me, for thus has the Lord said.

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.

And as for the remaining vessels,

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.

which the king of Babylon took not, when he carried Jechonias prisoner out of Jerusalem,

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.

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.”

they shall go into Babylon, says the Lord.