The Lord's Eternal Covenant with David

^14 (A)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when ^(B)I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ¹⁵ In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous ^(C)Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved, ^(D)and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ^(E)‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

¹⁷ “For thus says the Lord: ^(F)David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, ^18 (G)and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.”

¹⁹ The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ^20 (H)“Thus says the Lord: ^(I)If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, ^(J)so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, ^21 (K)then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers. ²² As ^(L)the host of heaven cannot be numbered and ^(M)the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.”

²³ The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ²⁴ “Have you not observed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two clans that he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight. ²⁵ Thus says the Lord: ^(N)If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, ²⁶ then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ^(O)For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”

Zedekiah to Die in Babylon

34 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when ^(P)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army ^(Q)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 ^(R)Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(S)Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. ^3 (T)You shall not escape from his hand but shall surely be captured and delivered into his hand. ^(U)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! ^(V)Thus says the Lord concerning you: ^(W)‘You shall not die by the sword. ⁵ You shall die in peace. ^(X)And as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so people shall ^(Y)burn spices for you ^(Z)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, ^(AA)Lachish and ^(AB)Azekah, ^(AC)for these were the only ^(AD)fortified cities of Judah that remained.

⁸ The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah ^(AE)had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem ^(AF)to make a proclamation of liberty to them, ^9 (AG)that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, ^(AH)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 ^(AI)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 ^(AJ)I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, ^14 (AK)‘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; ^(AL)you must set him free from your service.’ But ^(AM)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 ^(AN)by proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, and ^(AO)you made a covenant before me in the ^(AP)house that is called by my name, ¹⁶ but then you turned around ^(AQ)and profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves, ^(AR)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 ^(AS)by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; ^(AT)behold, I proclaim to you liberty ^(AU)to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the Lord. ^(AV)I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.