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Jeremiah 34
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Jeremiah 34
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 34
Fate of Zedekiah. 1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord while Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and all his army and all the earth’s kingdoms under his rule, and all the peoples were attacking Jerusalem and all her cities:(A) 2 Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Go to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and tell him: Thus says the Lord: I am handing this city over to the king of Babylon; he will burn it with fire.(B) 3 You yourself shall not escape his hand; rather you will be captured and fall into his hand. You shall see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak to him face to face. Then you shall go to Babylon.(C)
4 Just hear the word of the Lord, Zedekiah, king of Judah! Then, says the Lord concerning you, you shall not die by the sword. 5 You shall die in peace, and they will burn spices for you as they did for your ancestors, the earlier kings who preceded you, and they shall make lament over you, “Alas, Lord.” I myself make this promise—oracle of the Lord.
6 Jeremiah the prophet told all these things to Zedekiah, king of Judah, in Jerusalem, 7 while the army of the king of Babylon was attacking Jerusalem and the remaining cities of Judah, Lachish, and Azekah.[a] Only these fortified cities were left standing out of all the cities of Judah!
The Pact Broken.[b] 8 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom: 9 Everyone must free their Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should hold another Judahite in servitude.(D) 10 All the princes and the people who entered this covenant agreed to set free their slaves, their male and female servants, so that they should no longer be in servitude. But even though they agreed and freed them, 11 afterward they took back their male and female servants whom they had set free and again forced them into servitude.
12 Then this word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your ancestors the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery: 14 Every seventh year each of you must set free all Hebrews who have sold themselves to you; six years they shall serve you, but then you shall let them go free. Your ancestors, however, did not listen to me or obey me. 15 As for you, today you repented and did what is right in my eyes by proclaiming freedom for your neighbor and making a covenant before me in the house which bears my name. 16 But then you again profaned my name by taking back your male and female slaves whom you had just set free for life; you forced them to become your slaves again.(E) 17 Therefore, thus says the Lord: You for your part did not obey me by proclaiming freedom for your families and neighbors. So I now proclaim freedom for you—oracle of the Lord—for the sword, starvation, and disease. I will make you an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 [c]Those who violated my covenant and did not observe the terms of the covenant they made in my presence—I will make them like the calf which they cut in two so they could pass between its parts— 19 the princes of Judah and of Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf. 20 These I will hand over to their enemies, to those who seek their lives: their corpses shall become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.(F)
21 Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his princes, I will hand also over to their enemies, to those who seek their lives, to the army of the king of Babylon which is now withdrawing from you.(G) 22 I am giving the command—oracle of the Lord—to bring them back to this city. They shall attack and capture it, and burn it with fire; the cities of Judah I will turn into a waste, where no one dwells.(H)
Footnotes
- 34:7 Lachish, and Azekah: fortress towns southwest of Jerusalem which Nebuchadnezzar besieged to prevent any help coming to Jerusalem from Egypt. At Lachish, archaeologists found several letters written on ostraca (pottery fragments) dated to 598 or 588 B.C., which mention both Lachish and Azekah.
- 34:8–22 During the siege of Jerusalem, its citizens made a covenant at Zedekiah’s instigation to free Judahites they held in servitude, thus providing additional defenders for the city, leaving slave owners with fewer mouths to feed, and making reparation for past violations of the law, which dictated that Hebrew slaves should serve no longer than six years (Dt 15:12–15). But when the siege was temporarily lifted, when the assistance promised by Pharaoh Hophra arrived (cf. Jer 37:5), the inhabitants of Jerusalem broke the covenant and once more pressed their fellow citizens into slavery (v. 11).
- 34:18–19 Both the Old Testament (Gn 15:10–17) and the eighth century B.C. Sefire inscription indicate that sometimes contracting parties ratified an agreement by walking between dismembered animals, invoking upon themselves the animals’ fate if they failed to keep their word. The covenant: that mentioned in vv. 10, 15.
Jeremiah 34
New International Version
Jeremiah 34
New International Version
Warning to Zedekiah
34 While Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms and peoples(A) in the empire he ruled were fighting against Jerusalem(B) and all its surrounding towns, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Go to Zedekiah(C) king of Judah and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down.(D) 3 You will not escape from his grasp but will surely be captured and given into his hands.(E) You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes, and he will speak with you face to face. And you will go to Babylon.
4 “‘Yet hear the Lord’s promise to you, Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the Lord says concerning you: You will not die by the sword;(F) 5 you will die peacefully. As people made a funeral fire(G) in honor of your predecessors, the kings who ruled before you, so they will make a fire in your honor and lament, “Alas,(H) master!” I myself make this promise, declares the Lord.’”
6 Then Jeremiah the prophet told all this to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, 7 while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah that were still holding out—Lachish(I) and Azekah.(J) These were the only fortified cities left in Judah.
Freedom for Slaves
8 The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people(K) in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom(L) for the slaves. 9 Everyone was to free their Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Hebrew in bondage.(M) 10 So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their male and female slaves and no longer hold them in bondage. They agreed, and set them free. 11 But afterward they changed their minds(N) and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again.
12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestors(O) when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.(P) I said, 14 ‘Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you six years, you must let them go free.’[a](Q) Your ancestors, however, did not listen to me or pay attention(R) to me. 15 Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight: Each of you proclaimed freedom to your own people.(S) You even made a covenant before me in the house that bears my Name.(T) 16 But now you have turned around(U) and profaned(V) my name; each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished. You have forced them to become your slaves again.
17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom to your own people. So I now proclaim ‘freedom’ for you,(W) declares the Lord—‘freedom’ to fall by the sword, plague(X) and famine.(Y) I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth.(Z) 18 Those who have violated my covenant(AA) and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces.(AB) 19 The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials,(AC) the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf, 20 I will deliver(AD) into the hands of their enemies who want to kill them.(AE) Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.(AF)
21 “I will deliver Zedekiah(AG) king of Judah and his officials(AH) into the hands of their enemies(AI) who want to kill them, to the army of the king of Babylon,(AJ) which has withdrawn(AK) from you. 22 I am going to give the order, declares the Lord, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, take(AL) it and burn(AM) it down. And I will lay waste(AN) the towns of Judah so no one can live there.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 34:14 Deut. 15:12
Jeremiah 34
English Standard Version
Jeremiah 34
English Standard Version
Zedekiah to Die in Babylon
34 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when (A)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army (B)and all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all of its cities: 2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Go and speak to (C)Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: (D)Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. 3 (E)You shall not escape from his hand but shall surely be captured and delivered into his hand. (F)You shall see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face. And you shall go to Babylon.’ 4 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! (G)Thus says the Lord concerning you: (H)‘You shall not die by the sword. 5 You shall die in peace. (I)And as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so people shall (J)burn spices for you (K)and lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord!”’ For I have spoken the word, declares the Lord.”
6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, 7 when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, (L)Lachish and (M)Azekah, (N)for these were the only (O)fortified cities of Judah that remained.
8 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah (P)had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem (Q)to make a proclamation of liberty to them, 9 (R)that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, (S)so that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother. 10 And they obeyed, all the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant that everyone would set free his slave, male or female, so that they would not be enslaved again. They obeyed and set them free. 11 But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves (T)they had set free, and brought them into subjection as slaves. 12 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 13 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your fathers when (U)I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, 14 (V)‘At the end of seven years each of you must set free the fellow Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years; (W)you must set him free from your service.’ But (X)your fathers did not listen to me or incline their ears to me. 15 You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes (Y)by proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, and (Z)you made a covenant before me in the (AA)house that is called by my name, 16 but then you turned around (AB)and profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves, (AC)whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your slaves.
17 “Therefore, thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me (AD)by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; (AE)behold, I proclaim to you liberty (AF)to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the Lord. (AG)I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of (AH)the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like[a] (AI)the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts— 19 the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, (AJ)the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. 20 And I will give them into the hand of their enemies (AK)and into the hand of those who seek their lives. (AL)Their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. 21 And (AM)Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon (AN)which has withdrawn from you. 22 Behold, (AO)I will command, declares the Lord, and will (AP)bring them back to this city. (AQ)And they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. (AR)I will make the cities of Judah a desolation (AS)without inhabitant.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 34:18 Hebrew lacks them like
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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English Standard Version (ESV) 
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