Jeremiah 34

1 This is the Lord's message that came to Jeremiah when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, all his army, along with troops from all the countries he ruled and other nations were attacking Jerusalem and all its nearby towns:

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with the armies of all the kingdoms that he ruled, and they fought against Jerusalem and the other towns [in Judah]. At that time, Yahweh gave me this message:

2 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Go and talk to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him that this is what the Lord says: Listen! I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he is going to burn it down.

“Go to Zedekiah the King of Judah, and say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship], says: “I am about to enable the army of the King of Babylon to capture this city, and they will burn it down.

3 You yourself won't escape being captured by him. You will certainly be taken prisoner and brought before him to speak with him personally and see him face to face. You will be taken to Babylon.

You will not escape from them; they will capture you and take you to the king of Babylon. And [then] they will take you to Babylon.”’

4 Listen to what the Lord is telling you, Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the Lord says about you: You won't be killed;

But King Zedekiah, listen to this that Yahweh has promised: ‘You will not be killed in a battle [MTY];

5 you will die in peace. You will have a proper funeral with incense burned for you as they did for your forefathers, the kings who ruled before you. They will weep for you, crying, “The king is dead.” I myself am telling you this, declares the Lord.

you will die peacefully. [When you die], people will burn incense to honor/remember you just as they did for your ancestors who were kings before you became king. They will mourn for you, crying, “We are very sad that our king is dead!” I, Yahweh, promise that will happen.’”

6 Jeremiah the prophet told Zedekiah king of Judah all this there in Jerusalem.

[So] I took that message to King Zedekiah.

7 At this time the king of Babylon's army was attacking the city and the Judean towns of Lachish and Azekah. These were the only fortified cities that had not yet been conquered in Judah.

At that time the army of Babylonia had surrounded Jerusalem and Lachish and Azekah. Those [three] cities were the only cities in Judah that had high walls around them that still had not been captured.

8 A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah after King Zedekiah had made a agreement with everyone in Jerusalem to announce a proclamation of freedom.

King Zedekiah had decreed that the people must free their slaves.

9 This meant that every slave owner should free their Hebrew slaves, both male and female. No one was to force their fellow citizens to remain slaves any longer.

[He decreed that] the people must free their Hebrew slaves, [both the] men slaves and the women [slaves]. No one would be allowed to force a fellow Jew to [continue to] be his slave.

10 All the officials and all the people who accepted this agreement did what they said. They freed their male and female slaves, not forcing them to remain slaves any longer. They obeyed and let them go free.

The officials and the rest of the people had obeyed [what the king decreed],

11 However, later on they changed their minds and took back the male and female slaves they'd freed, forcing them back into slavery.

but later they changed their minds. They forced the men and women whom they had freed to become their slaves again.

12 A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

[So] Yahweh gave me this message [to tell to them]:

13 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I made a agreement with your forefathers when I led them out of Egypt, out of the prison-house of slavery, saying:

“I, Yahweh, the God whom you Israelis [say you belong to], (made an agreement with/gave this command to) your ancestors [long ago], when I rescued them from being slaves in Egypt.

14 Every seventh year, each of you are to set free all fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. They can serve you for six years, but then you must set them free. But your forefathers didn't pay attention and didn't obey what I told them.

I told them that they must free all their Hebrew slaves after the slaves had worked for them for six years. But your ancestors did not pay any attention to what I said.

15 A little while ago you decided to do what's right, which made me happy. You all announced that you would free your slaves. You made a agreement before me in my Temple.

Recently, you obeyed my command and stopped doing what was wrong and did what was right. You made a solemn agreement at my temple [that you would free your slaves], and [then] you freed them.

16 But now you've changed your minds and dishonored me. Each of you took back the male and female slaves you'd set free to do whatever they wanted. You forced them to become your slaves again.

But now you have disregarded what you solemnly promised, and you have shown contempt for what I [MTY] said by taking back the women and men whom you had freed and said they could live wherever they wanted to. [Now] you have forced them to be your slaves again.

17 So this is what the Lord says: You haven't obeyed me. You haven't announced freedom for your slaves, your own people. So now I announce “freedom” for you, declares the Lord: Freedom to be killed by war, by disease, and by famine! I will make all the kingdoms of the world horrified by you.

Therefore, this is what [I], Yahweh, say: ‘Because you have not obeyed me by freeing your fellow Israelis, I will free you to [be destroyed by] the swords [of your enemies] and by famines and diseases. All the nations of the earth will be horrified because of [what happens to] you.

18 They have broken my agreement, and have not kept the terms of the agreement they promised before me. So I'm going to cut them up just like the calf they cut in half to pass between its two pieces.

Because you have disregarded what I said in my agreement with you, I will do to you just like you did to the calves that you cut in half to show that you would surely do what you solemnly promised that you would do. I will [enable your enemies to] cut you into pieces, you officials of Judah and you officials of Jerusalem, and you officials in the palace, and you priests and all you common people. I will do that because you have disregarded what you solemnly promised [about freeing your slaves].

19 I will hand them over to their enemies who are trying to kill them. This includes the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and everyone else who passed between the pieces of the calf.

20 Their dead bodies will become food for birds of prey and wild animals.

I will enable your enemies to capture you, and they will kill you. And your bodies will be food for vultures and wild animals.

21 I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials to their enemies who are trying to kill them, to the army of the king of Babylon which had paused its attack on you.

I will enable the army of the king of Babylon to capture King Zedekiah and his officials. Although the king of Babylon and his army have left Jerusalem [for a short time],

22 Listen! I will give the order, declares the Lord, and bring them back to Jerusalem. They will attack it, capture it, and burn it. I'm going to destroy the towns of Judah so nobody will live there.

I will summon them back again. [This time], they will fight against this city and capture it and burn it down. I will make [sure] that all the towns in Judah are destroyed, [with the result that] no one will live there [any more].’”