Jeremiah 34

A Prophecy against Zedekiah

1The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when 1Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, with 2all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and against all its cities, saying, 2“Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘3Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him: “Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, 4I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and 5he will burn it with fire. 36You will not escape from his hand, for you will surely be captured and delivered into his hand; and you will 7see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you 8face to face, and you will go to Babylon.’”’ 4Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the Lord concerning you, ‘You will not die by the sword. 5You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will 9burn spices for you; and 10they will lament for you, “Alas, lord!”’ For I have spoken the word,” declares the Lord.

6Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke 11all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem 7when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the remaining cities of Judah, that is, 12Lachish and 13Azekah, for they alone remained as 14fortified cities among the cities of Judah.

8The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had 15made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to 16proclaim 17release to them: 9that each man should set free his male servant and each man his female servant, a 18Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman; so that 19no one should keep them, a Jew his brother, in bondage. 10And all the 20officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each man should set free his male servant and each man his female servant, so that no one should keep them any longer in bondage; they obeyed, and set them free. 11But afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection for male servants and for female servants.

12Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 13“Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘I 21made a covenant with your forefathers in the day that I 22brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, saying, 14“23At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who 24has been sold to you and has served you six years, you shall send him out free from you; but your forefathers 25did not obey Me or incline their ear to Me. 15Although recently you had turned and 26done what is right in My sight, each man proclaiming 27release to his neighbor, and you had 28made a covenant before Me 29in the house which is called by My name. 16Yet you 30turned and 31profaned My name, and each man 32took back his male servant and each man his female servant whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your male servants and female servants.”’

17“Therefore thus says the Lord, ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming 33release each man to his brother and each man to his neighbor. Behold, I am 34proclaiming a 35release to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to the 36sword, to the pestilence and to the famine; and I will make you a 37terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18I will give the men who have 38transgressed My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they 39cut the calf in two and passed between its parts-- 19the 40officials 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-- 20I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who 41seek their life. And their 42dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth. 2143Zedekiah 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 army of the king of Babylon which has 44gone away from you. 22Behold, I am going to command,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring them back to this city; and they will fight against it and 45take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a 46desolation 47without inhabitant.’”