Jer 34:1 The word which came unto 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 thereof, saying,
Jer 34:2 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:
Jer 34:3 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.
Jer 34:4 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:
Jer 34:5 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, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith
the Lord.
Jer 34:6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of
Judah in Jerusalem,
Jer 34:7 When the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against
all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for
these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.
Jer 34:8 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;
Jer 34:9 That every man should let his manservant, and every man his
maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve
himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.
Jer 34:10 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.
Jer 34:11 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.
Jer 34:12 Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
Jer 34:13 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,
Jer 34:14 At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an 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.
Jer 34:15 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:
Jer 34:16 But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant,
and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to
return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for
handmaids.
Jer 34:17 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.
Jer 34:18 And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have
not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they
cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,
Jer 34:19 The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and
the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of
the calf;
Jer 34:20 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.
Jer 34:21 And Zedekiah 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.
Jer 34:22 Behold, I will command, saith the Lord, and cause them to return to
this 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.