Jeremiah 34

Revised Geneva Translation

34 The Word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, (when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, and all his army and all the kingdoms of the Earth under the power of his hand, and all people, fought against Jerusalem and against all its cites) saying,

² “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Go and speak to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and tell him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babel. And he shall burn it with fire.

³ ‘And you shall not escape from his hand but shall surely be taken and delivered into his hand. And your eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babel. And he shall speak with you mouth to mouth. And you shall go to Babel.’

⁴ “Yet hear the Word of the LORD, O Zedekiah, king of Judah! Thus says the LORD of you: ‘You shall not die by the sword.

⁵ ‘You shall die in peace. And after the burnings for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so shall they burn incense for you. And they shall lament you, saying, “Oh LORD,” For I have pronounced the Word,’ says the LORD.”’”’”

⁶ Then Jeremiah the Prophet spoke all these Words to Zedekiah, king of Judah, in Jerusalem

⁷ when the king of Babel’s army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left — against Lachish and against Azekah (for only these strong cities remained from the cities of Judah).

⁸ This is the Word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them,

⁹ and that every man should let his Hebrew servant go free, either male or female, and that no one should have a Jewish brother as his servant.

¹⁰ Now, when all the princes and all the people who had agreed to the covenant heard that everyone should let his servants go free, both male and female, and that no one should make them his servants anymore, they obeyed and let them go.

¹¹ But afterward, they repented and caused the male and female servants whom they had freed to return. And they held them in subjection as servants again.

¹² Therefore, the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

¹³ “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I made a Covenant with your Fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of servants, saying,

¹⁴ “At the end of seven years, every man shall set free your Hebrew brother who has been sold to you and has served you for six years. You shall let him go free from you.” But your fathers did not obey Me. Nor did they incline their ears.

¹⁵ ‘And now you had turned back and had done right in My sight in proclaiming liberty, every man to his neighbor, and you had made a Covenant before Me in the House upon which My Name is called.

¹⁶ ‘But you turned back again and polluted My Name. For you have caused every man’s male and female servant, whom you had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return. And you hold them in subjection, to be to you as male and female servants again.’

¹⁷ “Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty to every man’s brother and to every man’s neighbor. Behold, I proclaim a liberty to you,’ says the LORD, ‘to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. And I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the Earth.

¹⁸ ‘And I will give those men who have broken My Covenant, and have not kept the Words of the Covenant which they had made before Me when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts —

¹⁹ ‘the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf —

²⁰ ‘I will give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hands of those who seek their life. And their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the sky, and to the beasts of the earth.

²¹ ‘And Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his princes, I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life and into the hand of the king of Babel’s army, which has gone up from you.

²² ‘Behold, I will Command,’ says the LORD, ‘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 desolate, without an inhabitant.’”