Chapter 34.
The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nebuchadrezzar, 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
thereof, saying, Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel.
Go and speak to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the Lord,
Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall
burn it with fire.
And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken and delivered
into his hand.
And thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak
with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah, king of Judah.
Thus saith the Lord of thee.
Thou shalt not die by the sword, but thou shalt die in peace.
And with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings, which were before thee,
so shall they burn odours for thee.
And they will lament thee, saying, Our Lord, for I have pronounced the word,
saith the Lord.
Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah, king of Judah,
in Jerusalem, when the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem and against
all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Hezekiah.
For these defence cities remained of the cities of Judah.
This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the Lord.
After that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at
Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them, that every man should let his manservant
and every man his maidservant, being in Hebrew or in Hebrewess,
go free.
That none should serve himself of them, to wit of a Jew his brother.
Now when all the princes and all the people which had entered into the covenant
heard that every one should let his manservant and every one his maidservant
go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed and let
them go.
But afterward they turned and caused the servants and the handmaids whom they had
let go free to return and brought them into subjection for servants and for
handmaids.
Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel.
I made a covenant with your fathers in the day, that I brought them forth out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying, At the end of seven years
let ye go every man his brother in Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee.
And when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee.
But your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
And ye were now turned and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every
man to his neighbour.
And ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name,
but ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant,
and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure to
return, and brought them into subjection to be unto you for servants of a
handmaid's.
Therefore thus saith the Lord, Ye have not hearkened unto me in
proclaiming liberty every one to his brother and every man to his neighbour.
Behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the
pestilence, and to the famine.
And I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which has not
performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the
calf in twain, and pass between the parts thereof, the princes of Judah and the
princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land
which pass between the parts of the calf.
I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them
that seek their life.
And their dead bodies shall be for meat, unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the
beasts of the earth.
And said Achaia king of Judah and his princes, will I give into the hand of
their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of
the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you.
Behold, I will command, saith the Lord, and cause them to return to their city.
And they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire.
And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.