Jeremiah 34
New American Standard Bible
A Prophecy against Zedekiah
34 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when (A)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, with (B)all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his [a]control and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and all its cities, saying, 2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘(C)Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, (D)I am handing this city over to the king of Babylon, and (E)he will burn it with fire. 3 And as for you, (F)you will not escape from his hand, for you will assuredly be caught and handed over to him; and you will (G)see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you [b]face to face, and you will go to Babylon.’”’ 4 Yet hear the word of the Lord, Zedekiah king of Judah! This is what the Lord says concerning you: ‘You will not die by the sword. 5 You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will (H)burn spices for you; and (I)they will mourn for you, crying, “Oh, my lord!”’ For I have spoken the word,” declares the Lord.
6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke (J)all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem 7 when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and all the remaining cities of Judah, that is, (K)Lachish and (L)Azekah, for they alone remained as (M)fortified cities among the cities of Judah.
8 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had (N)made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem, to (O)proclaim [c]release to them: 9 that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, a (P)Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, so that (Q)no one would keep them, his Jewish brother or sister, in bondage. 10 And all the (R)officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, so that no one would keep them in bondage any longer; they obeyed, and set them free. 11 But afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male servants and as female servants.
12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 13 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘I (S)made a covenant with your forefathers on the day that I (T)brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, saying, 14 “(U)At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who [d]has been sold to you and has served you for six years, and you shall send him out free from you.” But your forefathers (V)did not obey Me nor incline their ear to Me. 15 Although recently you had turned and (W)done what is right in My sight, each one proclaiming [e]release to his neighbor, and you had (X)made a covenant before Me (Y)in the house which is called by My name. 16 Yet you (Z)turned and (AA)profaned My name, and each person [f]took back his male servant and each his female servant whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your male and female servants.’
17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming [g]release, each one to his brother and each to his neighbor. Behold, I am (AB)proclaiming a [h]release to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to the (AC)sword, to the plague, and to the famine; and I will make you a (AD)terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 I will give the people who have (AE)violated My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they (AF)cut the calf in two and passed between its parts— 19 the (AG)officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the high officials and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf— 20 I will hand them over to their enemies and to those who (AH)seek their lives. And their (AI)dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the earth. 21 (AJ)Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will also hand over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives, and to the army of the king of Babylon which has (AK)withdrawn from you. 22 Behold, I am going to give a command,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring them back to this city, and they will fight against it and (AL)take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a (AM)desolation (AN)without inhabitant.’”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 34:1 Lit dominion
- Jeremiah 34:3 Lit his mouth with your mouth
- Jeremiah 34:8 Or liberty
- Jeremiah 34:14 Or has sold himself
- Jeremiah 34:15 Or liberty
- Jeremiah 34:16 Lit made his male servant return and
- Jeremiah 34:17 Or liberty
- Jeremiah 34:17 Or liberty
Jeremiah 34
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Jeremiah’s Word to King Zedekiah
34 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,(A) all his army, all the earthly kingdoms under his control,(B) and all other nations were fighting against Jerusalem and all its surrounding cities: 2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Go, speak to Zedekiah, king 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 down. 3 As for you, you will not escape from his hand 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](D) you will go to Babylon.
4 “Yet hear the Lord’s word, Zedekiah, king 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 fathers, the former kings who preceded you.(E) ‘Our king is dead!’[b] will be the lament for you, for I have spoken this word.” This is the Lord’s declaration.
6 So Jeremiah the prophet related all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem 7 while the king of Babylon’s army was attacking Jerusalem and all of Judah’s remaining cities—against Lachish and Azekah,(F) 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(G) to them, 9 so each man would free his male and female Hebrew slaves and no one would enslave his Judean brother.(H) 10 All the officials and people who entered into covenant to free their male and female slaves—in order not to enslave them any longer—obeyed and freed them. 11 Afterward, however, they changed their minds and took back their male and female slaves they had freed 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(I) 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 free his Hebrew brother who sold himself[c] to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must send him out free from you.(J) 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(K) at the temple called by My name.(L) 16 But you have changed your minds(M) and profaned My name.(N) Each has taken back his male and female slaves who had been freed to go wherever they wanted, and you have again subjugated them to be your slaves.
17 “Therefore, this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed Me by proclaiming freedom, each man for his brother and for his neighbor. I hereby proclaim freedom for you”(O)—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. 18 As for those who disobeyed My covenant,(P) 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.(Q) 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 will be handed over to their enemies, to those who want to take their life. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.(R) 21 I will hand Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials over to their enemies, to those who want 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 down.(S) I will make Judah’s cities a desolation,(T) without inhabitant.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 34:3 Lit and his mouth will speak to your mouth
- Jeremiah 34:5 Lit Alas, lord
- Jeremiah 34:14 Or who was sold
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