Jeremias 34
1 Thus said the Lord; Make to yourself bonds and yokes, and put [them] about your neck,
The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah — and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his force, and all kingdoms of the land of the dominion of his hand, and all the peoples are fighting against Jerusalem, and against all its cities — saying:
'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel: Go, and thou hast spoken unto Zedekiah king of Judah, and hast said unto him, Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he hath burned it with fire,
3 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.
and thou, thou dost not escape out of his hand, for thou art certainly caught, and into his hand thou art given, and thine eyes see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth with thy mouth speaketh, and Babylon thou enterest.
4 And you shall commission them to say to their lords, Thus said the Lord God of Israel; Thus shall you say to your lords;
'Only, hear a word of Jehovah, O Zedekiah king of Judah, Thus said Jehovah unto thee: Thou dost not die by sword,
5 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.
in peace thou diest, and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings who have been before thee, so they make a burning for thee; and Ah, lord, they lament for thee, for the word I have spoken — an affirmation of Jehovah.'
6 I gave the earth to Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon to serve him, and the wild beasts of the field to labor for him.
And Jeremiah the prophet speaketh unto Zedekiah king of Judah all these words in Jerusalem,
and the forces of the king of Babylon are fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that are left — against Lachish, and against Azekah, for these have been left among the cities of Judah, cities of fortresses.
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, says the Lord, until they are consumed by his hand.
The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after the making by the king Zedekiah of a covenant with all the people who [are] in Jerusalem, to proclaim to them liberty,
9 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:
to send out each his man-servant, and each his maid-servant — the Hebrew and the Hebrewess — free, so as not to lay service on them, any on a Jew his brother;
10 for they prophesy lies to you, to remove you far from your land.
and hearken do all the heads, and all the people who have come in to the covenant to send forth each his man-servant and each his maid-servant free, so as not to lay service on them any more, yea, they hearken, and send them away;
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.
and they turn afterwards, and cause the men-servants and the maid-servants to return, whom they had sent forth free, and they subdue them for men-servants and for maid-servants.
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.
And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying:
'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I — I made a covenant with your fathers in the day of My bringing them forth from the land of Egypt, from a house of servants, saying,
14 For they prophesy unrighteous [words] to you,
At the end of seven years ye do send forth each his brother, the Hebrew, who is sold to thee, and hath served thee six years, yea, thou hast sent him forth free from thee: and your fathers hearkened not unto Me, nor inclined their ear.
15 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.
'And ye turn back, ye to-day, and ye do that which is right in Mine eyes, to proclaim liberty each to his neighbour, and ye make a covenant before Me in the house over which My name is called.
16 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].
And — ye turn back, and pollute My name, and ye cause each his man-servant and each his maid-servant, whom he had sent forth free, (at their pleasure, ) to return, and ye subdue them to be to you for men-servants and for maid-servants.
17 I sent them not.
'Therefore, thus said Jehovah: Ye have not hearkened unto Me to proclaim freedom, each to his brother, and each to his neighbour; lo, I am proclaiming to you liberty — an affirmation of Jehovah — unto the sword, unto the pestilence, and unto the famine, and I have given you for a trembling to all 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 have given the men who are transgressing My covenant, who have not established the words of the covenant that they have made before Me, by the calf, that they have cut in two, and pass through between its pieces —
19 And as for the remaining vessels,
heads of Judah, and heads of Jerusalem, the officers, and the priests, and all the people of the land those passing through between the pieces of the calf —
20 which the king of Babylon took not, when he carried Jechonias prisoner out of Jerusalem,
yea, I have given them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their soul, and their carcase hath been for food to the fowl of the heavens, and to the beast of the earth.
'And Zedekiah king of Judah, and his heads, I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their soul, and into the hand of the forces of the king of Babylon, that are going up from off you.
22 they shall go into Babylon, says the Lord.
Lo, I am commanding — an affirmation of Jehovah — and have brought them back unto this city, and they have fought against it, and captured it, and burned it with fire, and the cities of Judah I do make a desolation — without inhabitant.'
