Jeremiah 34
Christian Standard Bible
Jeremiah’s Word to King Zedekiah
34 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon,(A) his whole army, all the kingdoms of the lands under his control,(B) and all other peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all its surrounding cities: 2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Go, speak to King Zedekiah of Judah, and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon,(C) and he will burn it. 3 As for you, you will not escape(D) from him but are certain to be captured and handed over to him. You will meet the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak face to face;[a](E) you will go to Babylon.
4 “‘Yet hear the Lord’s word, King Zedekiah of Judah. This is what the Lord says concerning you: You will not die by the sword; 5 you will die peacefully. There will be a burning ceremony for you just like the burning ceremonies for your ancestors, the kings of old who came before you.(F) “Oh, master!” will be the lament for you, for I have spoken this word. This is the Lord’s declaration.’”
6 So the prophet Jeremiah related all these words to King Zedekiah of Judah in Jerusalem 7 while the king of Babylon’s army was attacking Jerusalem and all of Judah’s remaining cities—that is, Lachish and Azekah,(G) for they were the only ones left of Judah’s fortified cities.
The People and Their Slaves
8 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom(H) to them. 9 As a result, each was to let his male and female Hebrew slaves go free, and no one was to enslave his fellow Judean.(I) 10 All the officials and people who entered into covenant to let their male and female slaves go free—in order not to enslave them any longer—obeyed and let them go free. 11 Afterward, however, they changed their minds and took back their male and female slaves they had let go free and forced them to become slaves again.
12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 13 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant(J) with your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, saying, 14 ‘At the end of seven years, each of you must let his fellow Hebrew who sold himself[b] to you go. He may serve you six years, but then you must let him go free from your service.’(K) But your ancestors did not obey me or pay any attention. 15 Today you repented and did what pleased me, each of you proclaiming freedom for his neighbor. You made a covenant before me(L) at the house that bears my name.(M) 16 But you have changed your minds(N) and profaned my name.(O) Each has taken back his male and female slaves who had been set free to go wherever they wanted, and you have again forced them to be your slaves.
17 “Therefore, this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed me by proclaiming freedom, each for his fellow Hebrew and for his neighbor.(P) I hereby proclaim freedom for you(Q)—this is the Lord’s declaration—to the sword, to plague, and to famine! I will make you a horror to all the earth’s kingdoms.(R) 18 As for those who disobeyed my covenant,(S) not keeping the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat them like the calf they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces.(T) 19 The officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf— 20 all these I will hand over to their enemies, to those who intend to take their life. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.(U) 21 I will hand King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials over to their enemies, to those who intend to take their lives, to the king of Babylon’s army that is withdrawing. 22 I am about to give the command—this is the Lord’s declaration—and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it.(V) I will make Judah’s cities a desolation, without inhabitant.”(W)
Jeremiah 34
The Voice
34 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his army, and all the kingdoms and peoples of his empire, to begin the final assault against Jerusalem and all the towns and villages. One by one they fell. As this dreaded ruler and his vast army drew closer to Jerusalem, the word of the Eternal came to Jeremiah.
Eternal One: 2 The Eternal God of Israel has this to say: Go and deliver this message to Zedekiah, king of Judah: “I, the Eternal, am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it to the ground. 3 As for you, you will not escape from him. No, you will be captured and turned over to the king of Babylon. You will have to stand before him and look this powerful ruler in the eyes as you are sentenced to exile in Babylon.
4 “But hear this promise from the Eternal, O Zedekiah, king of Judah: ‘I declare that if you obey Me now, you will not die in battle, 5 but you will die in peace.’ People will burn spices at your funeral in your honor, just as they did for your ancestors, the kings who ruled before you. Mourners will weep for you saying, ‘O, our king is dead!’ I, the Eternal, promise you this can still happen.”
6 The prophet Jeremiah faithfully related all of this to Zedekiah, king of Judah, while both were still in Jerusalem. 7 This was when the Babylonian king’s siege of Jerusalem and the rest of Judah’s cities was under way, with Lachish and Azekah the only other fortified cities that had not been conquered.
8 Now as the siege continued and the conditions became more severe, another message came to Jeremiah from the Eternal after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with the citizens of Jerusalem to free the slaves in the city. 9 The king commanded all those who held Hebrew slaves to release them—both men and women—so that no Jew would hold a fellow Jew in slavery. 10 So all the leaders and people of the city entered this covenant and agreed with the king to free all of their Hebrew slaves.
11 Not long after the people had freed their slaves, they changed their minds and forced the men and women they released back into slavery. 12 It was then that a word from the Eternal came to Jeremiah regarding the people of Jerusalem:
Eternal One: 13 I, the Eternal God of Israel, am reminding you that I made a covenant with your ancestors when I rescued them from slavery in the land of Egypt. I told them: 14 After six years of service, a fellow Hebrew slave must be freed from slavery in the seventh year.[a] But your ancestors never took My directive seriously or obeyed Me. 15 Not long ago, you changed your mind and did what was right in My eyes: you set your kinsmen free from bondage. You even established a sacred covenant before Me in the house that bears My name. 16 But now you have reversed yourselves, turned around, and broken that covenant! You have defiled My name by forcing these men and women you freed back into slavery.
17 That is why I proclaim the following: Since you have disobeyed Me and not declared that your fellow countrymen are set free, I will now set you free from My protection. I declare that you will be “free” to die by war, disease, and famine. The destiny I set before You will terrify the watching world. 18 Those who violated this covenant with Me will now be treated like the calf they cut in two and walked between when this promise was made.
In Jeremiah’s time, the agreeing parties affirm the terms of a covenant by participating in an ancient ritual. They gather in a sacred place, cut an animal in half, and pass between the two parts. These ritual actions depict an implicit threat that if either covenant partner violates this agreement, he will become like the sacrifice and suffer the consequences of death and dismemberment. It is hard to imagine people taking such solemn ceremonies lightly, but they do. They always will.
Eternal One: 19 The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court servants, the priests, and all people in the land who walked between the halves of the calf will suffer a common fate. 20-21 I will hand them over to their enemies, to those who want them dead. Their corpses will not be buried; they will lie on the ground and become food for the birds and wild animals. I will also hand Zedekiah (king of Judah) and his officials over to their enemies, to those who want them dead. Although King Nebuchadnezzar and his army have pulled back from your city, that is only temporary. 22 I, the Eternal One, will give the order and call them back to Jerusalem. They will fight against this city, capture it, and burn it to the ground. I will use the army of Babylon to destroy the towns of Judah so no one can live there.
Footnotes
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The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.