Jeremiah 34

Chapter 34

A Warning for Zedekiah

1 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with all the armies from the kingdoms he ruled, and he fought against Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. At that time this message came to Jeremiah from the LORD:2 “Go to King Zedekiah of Judah, and tell him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down.

3 You will not escape his grasp but will be captured and taken to meet the king of Babylon face to face. Then you will be exiled to Babylon.
4 “‘But listen to this promise from the LORD, O Zedekiah, king of Judah. This is what the LORD says: You will not be killed in war

5 but will die peacefully. People will burn incense in your memory, just as they did for your ancestors, the kings who preceded you. They will mourn for you, crying, “Alas, our master is dead!” This I have decreed, says the LORD.’”
6 So Jeremiah the prophet delivered the message to King Zedekiah of Judah.

7 At this time the Babylonian army was besieging Jerusalem, Lachish, and Azekah—the only fortified cities of Judah not yet captured.

Freedom for Hebrew Slaves

8 This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah made a covenant with the people, proclaiming freedom for the slaves.9 He had ordered all the people to free their Hebrew slaves—both men and women. No one was to keep a fellow Judean in bondage.10 The officials and all the people had obeyed the king’s command,

11 but later they changed their minds. They took back the men and women they had freed, forcing them to be slaves again.
12 So the LORD gave them this message through Jeremiah:13 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestors long ago when I rescued them from their slavery in Egypt.14 I told them that every Hebrew slave must be freed after serving six years. But your ancestors paid no attention to me.15 Recently you repented and did what was right, following my command. You freed your slaves and made a solemn covenant with me in the Temple that bears my name.

16 But now you have shrugged off your oath and defiled my name by taking back the men and women you had freed, forcing them to be slaves once again.
17 “Therefore, this is what the LORD says: Since you have not obeyed me by setting your countrymen free, I will set you free to be destroyed by war, disease, and famine. You will be an object of horror to all the nations of the earth.18 Because you have broken the terms of our covenant, I will cut you apart just as you cut apart the calf when you walked between its halves to solemnize your vows.19 Yes, I will cut you apart, whether you are officials of Judah or Jerusalem, court officials, priests, or common people—for you have broken your oath.

20 I will give you to your enemies, and they will kill you. Your bodies will be food for the vultures and wild animals.
21 “I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials to the army of the king of Babylon. And although Babylon’s king has left Jerusalem for a while,

22 I will call the Babylonian armies back again. They will fight against this city and will capture it and burn it down. I will see to it that all the towns of Judah are destroyed, with no one living there.”

JEREMIAH 34

Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah

1  t King Nebuchadnezzart had a large army made up of people from every kingdom in his empire. He and his army were attacking Jerusalem and all the nearby towns, when the [Lord] told me

2 to say to King Zedekiah:t
I am the [Lord], and I am going to let Nebuchadnezzar capture this city and burn it down.

3 You will be taken prisoner and brought to Nebuchadnezzar, and he will speak with you face to face. Then you will be led away to Babylonia.
4 Zedekiah, I promise that you won't die in battle.

5 You will die a peaceful death. People will mourn when you die, and they will light bonfires in your honor, just as they did for your ancestors, the kings who ruled before you.
6 I went to Zedekiah and told him what the [Lord] had said.

7 Meanwhile, the king of Babylonia was trying to break through the walls of Lachish, Azekah, and Jerusalem, the only three towns of Judah that had not been captured.

The People Break a Promise

8-10 King Zedekiah, t his officials, and everyone else in Jerusalem made an agreement to free all Hebrewt men and women who were slaves. No Jew would keep another as a slave. And so, all the Jewish slaves were given their freedom.

11 But those slave owners changed their minds and forced their former slaves back into slavery.

12 That's when the [Lord] told me to say to the people:
13 I am the [Lord] God of Israel, and I made an agreement with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, where they had been slaves.

14 t As part of this agreement, you must let a Hebrew slave go free after six years of service.
Your ancestors did not obey me,

15-16 but you decided to obey me and do the right thing by setting your Hebrew slaves completely free. You even went to my temple, and in my name you made an agreement to set them free. But you have abused my name, because you broke that agreement and forced your former slaves back into slavery.

17 You have disobeyed me by not giving your slaves their freedom. So I will give you freedom—the freedom to die in battle or from disease or hunger. I will make you disgusting to all other nations on earth.
18 You asked me to be a witness when you made the agreement to set your slaves free. And as part of the ceremony you cut a calf into two parts, then walked between the parts. But you people of Jerusalem have broken that agreement as well as my agreement with Israel. So I will do to you what you did to that calf.

19-20 I will let your enemies take all of you prisoner, including the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the royal officials, the priests, and everyone else who walked between the two parts of the calf. These enemies will kill you and leave your bodies lying on the ground as food for birds and wild animals.
21-22 These enemies are King Nebuchadnezzart of Babylonia and his army. They have stopped attacking Jerusalem, but they want to kill King Zedekiah and his high officials. So I will command them to return and attack again. This time they will conquer the city and burn it down, and they will capture Zedekiah and his officials. I will also let them destroy the towns of Judah, so that no one can live there any longer.