Jer 34 | NASB2020 | STEP | The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord , when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army , with all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his control and all the peoples , were fighting against Jerusalem and all its cities , saying ,

Jeremiah 34

A Prophecy against Zedekiah

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when ^aNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, with ^ball the kingdoms of the earth that were under his ^{▼▼Lit dominion}control and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and all its cities, saying, 2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘ ^dGo and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, ^eI am handing this city over to the king of Babylon, and ^fhe will burn it with fire. 3 And as for you, ^gyou will not escape from his hand, for you will assuredly be caught and handed over to him; and you will ^hsee the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you ^{▼▼Lit his mouth with your mouth}face to face, and you will go to Babylon.’”’ 4 Yet hear the word of the Lord, Zedekiah king of Judah! This is what the Lord says concerning you: ‘You will not die by the sword. 5 You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will ^jburn spices for you; and ^kthey will mourn for you, crying, “Oh, my lord!”’ For I have spoken the word,” declares the Lord.

6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke ^lall these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem 7 when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and all the remaining cities of Judah, that is, ^mLachish and ⁿAzekah, for they alone remained as ^ofortified cities among the cities of Judah.

8 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had ^pmade a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem, to ^qproclaim ^{▼▼Or liberty}release to them: 9 that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, a ^sHebrew man or a Hebrew woman, so that ^tno one would keep them, his Jewish brother or sister, in bondage. 10 And all the ^uofficials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, so that no one would keep them in bondage any longer; they obeyed, and set them free. 11 But afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male servants and as female servants.

12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 13 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘I ^vmade a covenant with your forefathers on the day that I ^wbrought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, saying, 14 “ ^xAt the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who ^{▼▼Or has sold himself}has been sold to you and has served you for six years, and you shall send him out free from you.” But your forefathers ^zdid not obey Me nor incline their ear to Me. 15 Although recently you had turned and ^aadone what is right in My sight, each one proclaiming ^{▼▼Or liberty}release to his neighbor, and you had ^acmade a covenant before Me ^adin the house which is called by My name. 16 Yet you ^aeturned and ^afprofaned My name, and each person ^{▼▼Lit made his male servant return and}took back his male servant and each his female servant whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your male and female servants.’

17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming ^{▼▼Or liberty}release, each one to his brother and each to his neighbor. Behold, I am ^aiproclaiming a ^{▼▼Or liberty}release to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to the ^aksword, to the plague, and to the famine; and I will make you a ^alterror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 I will give the people who have ^amviolated My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they ^ancut the calf in two and passed between its parts-- 19 the ^aoofficials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the high officials and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf-- 20 I will hand them over to their enemies and to those who ^apseek their lives. And their ^aqdead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the earth. 21 ^arZedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will also hand over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives, and to the army of the king of Babylon which has ^aswithdrawn from you. 22 Behold, I am going to give a command,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring them back to this city, and they will fight against it and ^attake it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a ^audesolation ^avwithout inhabitant.’”