Jeremiah 33:14-34:17

New International Version

¹⁴ “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise^(A) I made to the people of Israel and Judah.

¹⁷ For this is what the Lord says: ‘David will never fail^(I) to have a man to sit on the throne of Israel, ¹⁸ nor will the Levitical^(J) priests^(K) ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices.^(L)’”

¹⁹ The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ²⁰ “This is what the Lord says: ‘If you can break my covenant with the day^(M) and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time,^{(N) 21} then my covenant^(O) with David my servant—and my covenant with the Levites^(P) who are priests ministering before me—can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne.^{(Q) 22} I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless^(R) as the stars in the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.’”

²³ The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ²⁴ “Have you not noticed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two kingdoms^[b](S) he chose’? So they despise^(T) my people and no longer regard them as a nation.^{(U) 25} This is what the Lord says: ‘If I have not made my covenant with day and night^(V) and established the laws^(W) of heaven and earth,^{(X) 26} then I will reject^(Y) the descendants of Jacob^(Z) and David my servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes^[c](AA) and have compassion^(AB) on them.’”

Warning to Zedekiah

34 While Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms and peoples^(AC) in the empire he ruled were fighting against Jerusalem^(AD) and all its surrounding towns, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Go to Zedekiah^(AE) king of Judah and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down.^{(AF) 3} You will not escape from his grasp but will surely be captured and given into his hands.^(AG) You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes, and he will speak with you face to face. And you will go to Babylon.

⁴ “‘Yet hear the Lord’s promise to you, Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the Lord says concerning you: You will not die by the sword;^{(AH) 5} you will die peacefully. As people made a funeral fire^(AI) in honor of your predecessors, the kings who ruled before you, so they will make a fire in your honor and lament, “Alas,^(AJ) master!” I myself make this promise, declares the Lord.’”

⁶ Then Jeremiah the prophet told all this to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, ⁷ while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah that were still holding out—Lachish^(AK) and Azekah.^(AL) These were the only fortified cities left in Judah.

Freedom for Slaves

⁸ The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people^(AM) in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom^(AN) for the slaves. ⁹ Everyone was to free their Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Hebrew in bondage.^{(AO) 10} So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their male and female slaves and no longer hold them in bondage. They agreed, and set them free. ¹¹ But afterward they changed their minds^(AP) and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again.

¹² Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ¹³ “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestors^(AQ) when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.^(AR) I said, ¹⁴ ‘Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you six years, you must let them go free.’^[d](AS) Your ancestors, however, did not listen to me or pay attention^(AT) to me. ¹⁵ Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight: Each of you proclaimed freedom to your own people.^(AU) You even made a covenant before me in the house that bears my Name.^{(AV) 16} But now you have turned around^(AW) and profaned^(AX) my name; each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished. You have forced them to become your slaves again.

¹⁷ “Therefore this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom to your own people. So I now proclaim ‘freedom’ for you,^(AY) declares the Lord—‘freedom’ to fall by the sword, plague^(AZ) and famine.^(BA) I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth.^(BB)