Jeremiah 34
New Catholic Bible
The Fall of Jerusalem
Chapter 34
Zedekiah Condemned. 1 While Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and his entire army and all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion and all the people in the empire he ruled were waging war against Jerusalem and all its towns, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 Go forth to Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and say to him: Thus says the Lord: I intend to hand over this city to the king of Babylon, and he will order that it be burned to the ground. 3 And you yourself will not escape his clutches, for there is no doubt that you will be captured and delivered into his hands. With your own eyes you will see the king of Babylon, and he will speak with you face to face. Then you will go to Babylon.
4 But even so, listen to the promise of the Lord to you, Zedekiah, king of Judah. This is what the Lord promises in your regard: You will not die by the sword. 5 Rather, you will die a peaceful death. And just as the people burned spices in honor of your ancestors, the kings who preceded you, so they will mourn your passing and burn spices for you, as they lament, “Alas, O king.” I myself have made this promise, says the Lord.
6 The prophet Jeremiah revealed all these things to Zedekiah, the king of Judah, in Jerusalem 7 while the army of the king of Babylon was attacking Jerusalem and the remaining cities of Judah that were left, Lachish and Azekah,[a] for these were the only fortified cities of Judah that were still standing.
The Broken Promise. 8 This word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to issue a proclamation of freedom for their slaves. 9 Everyone who had Hebrew slaves, whether male or female, was to grant them freedom, and no one would be allowed to keep a fellow Jew in the state of slavery.
10 All of the officials and the people who entered into this agreement, swearing that they would set free their male and female slaves so that they would not again be enslaved, obeyed and granted them their freedom. 11 Afterward, however, they changed their minds and once again forced back into slavery those to whom they had granted their freedom.
12 Then this word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, saying, 14 “Every seventh year each one of you must set free any Hebrew who has sold himself to you as a slave and has served you for six years.”
Your fathers, however, did not listen to me or obey me. 15 Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight by proclaiming that freedom was to be given to your brethren and even making a covenant with me in the house that bears my name. 16 Now, however, you have renounced that agreement and profaned my name when each of you took back the male and female slaves to whom you had granted freedom and forced them once again to be your slaves.
17 Therefore, thus says the Lord: Inasmuch as you have not obeyed me and refused to grant deliverance to your neighbors and kinsmen, now I will proclaim deliverance for you—deliverance to the sword, to plague, and to famine. I will make you an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 As for those who have violated my covenant and refused to observe the terms of the covenant to which they agreed in my presence, I will treat them like the calf which they cut in two and then passed between its pieces.[b] 19 The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf 20 will be handed over to their enemies who seek their lives. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and the animals of the earth.
21 As for Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his officials, I will hand them over to their enemies who seek their lives and to the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you. 22 I will issue the command, says the Lord, and I will bring them back to this city. They will attack it and capture it and burn it to the ground. And I will turn the towns of Judah into a desolate wasteland where no one dwells.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 34:7 Lachish and Azekah: two cities southwest of Jerusalem, on the coastal plain.
- Jeremiah 34:18 The calf . . . : the reference is to an ancient rite for ratifying an agreement (see Gen 15:9).
Jeremiah 34
Modern English Version
Zedekiah to Die in Exile
34 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion and all the people fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities, saying: 2 Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him: Thus says the Lord: I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire. 3 And you will not escape out of his hand, but will surely be taken and delivered into his hand. And you will see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you face to face, and you will go to Babylon.
4 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the Lord concerning you: You will not die by the sword. 5 But you will die in peace; and as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they burn spices for you. And they will lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord!” For I have pronounced the word, says the Lord.
6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, 7 when the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and Azekah, for these fortified cities remained of the cities of Judah.
Slaves to be Free
8 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them: 9 that every man should let his male slave and every man his female slave, being a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, go free so that no one should keep them, a Jew his brother, in bondage. 10 Now when all the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant heard that everyone should let his male slave and everyone his female slave go free, so that no one should keep them any more in bondage, then they obeyed and let them go. 11 But afterward they turned around and caused the male slaves and the female slaves whom they had set free to return, and brought them into subjection for male slaves and female slaves.
12 Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: 13 Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying: 14 “At the end of seven years, each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who has been sold to you; and when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you.” But your fathers did not obey Me nor incline their ear. 15 You recently turned and did what was right in My sight by proclaiming liberty, every man to his neighbor; and you made a covenant before Me in the house that is called by My name. 16 But then you turned around and profaned My name when every one of you took back his male and female slaves, whom you had set free, at their pleasure, and you brought them into subjection to be your slaves.
17 Therefore thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, everyone to his brother and every man to his neighbor. I proclaim a liberty to you, says the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts, 19 the officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the court officers, and the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf, 20 I will even give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be food to the fowl of heaven and to the beasts of the earth.
21 Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which has gone away from you. 22 I will command, says the Lord, and cause them to return to this city, and they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.