Jer 34
1
The word which came to Jeremiah from YHWH, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and
all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion, and
all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem, and against all its cities,
saying:
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Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel, Go, and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell
him, Thus says YHWH, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon,
and he shall burn it with fire:
3
and you shall not escape out of his hand, but shall surely be taken, and delivered
into his hand; and your eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he
shall speak with you mouth to mouth, and you shall go to Babylon.
4
Yet hear the word of YHWH, O Zedekiah king of Judah: thus says YHWH concerning you,
You shall not die by the sword;
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you shall die in peace; and with the burnings of your fathers, the former kings that
were before you, so shall they make a burning for you; and they shall lament you,
[saying], Ah Lord! for I have spoken the word, says YHWH.
6
Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,
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when the king of Babylon`s army was fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the
cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these [alone]
remained of the cities of Judah [as] fortified cities.
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The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH, after that the king Zedekiah had made a
covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them;
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that every man should let his man-servant, and every man his maid-servant, that is
a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that none should make bondmen of them, [to wit],
of a Jew his brother.
10
And all the princes and all the people obeyed, that had entered into the covenant,
that every one should let his man-servant, and every one his maid-servant, go free,
that none should make bondmen of them any more; they obeyed, and let them go:
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but afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had
let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.
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Therefore the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah from YHWH, saying,
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Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day
that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,
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At the end of seven years you shall let go every man his brother that is a Hebrew,
that has been sold to you, and has served you six years, you shall let him go free
from you: but your fathers hearkened not to me, neither inclined their ear.
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And you were now turned, and had done that which is right in mine eyes, in proclaiming
liberty every man to his neighbor; and you had made a covenant before me in the house
which is called by my name:
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but you turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man
his handmaid, whom you had let go free at their pleasure, to return; and you brought
them into subjection, to be to you for servants and for handmaids.
17
Therefore thus says YHWH: you have not hearkened to me, to proclaim liberty, every
man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim to you a liberty,
says YHWH, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you
to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth.
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And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, that have not performed
the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in twain
and passed between its parts;
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the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests,
and all the people of the land, that passed between the parts of the calf;
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I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that
seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the heavens,
and to the beasts of the earth.
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And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies,
and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon`s
army, that are gone away from you.
22
Behold, I will command, says YHWH, 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 a desolation, without inhabitant.