Jeremiah 34

1 The word which came to 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,

Thus said the Lord; Make to yourself bonds and yokes, and put [them] about your neck,

2 Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus said the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:

3 And you shall not escape out of his hand, but shall surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and your eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with you mouth to mouth, and you shall go to Babylon.

and you shall send them to the king of Idumea, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hands of their messengers that come to meet them at Jerusalem to Sedekias king of Juda.

4 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus says the LORD of you, You shall not die by the sword:

And you shall commission them to say to their lords, Thus said the Lord God of Israel; Thus shall you say to your lords;

5 But you shall die in peace: and with the burnings of your fathers, the former kings which were before you, so shall they burn odors for you; and they will lament you, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, says the LORD.

I have made the earth by my great power, and with my high arm, and I will give it to whoever it shall seem [good] in mine eyes.

6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,

I gave the earth to Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon to serve him, and the wild beasts of the field to labour for him.

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 defended cities remained of the cities of Judah.

8 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them;

And the nation and kingdom, all that shall not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, with sword and famine will I visit them, says the Lord, until they are consumed by his hand.

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.

And listen you not to your false prophets, nor to them that divine to you, nor to them that foretell events by dreams to you, nor to your auguries, nor your sorcerers, that say, You shall by no means work for the king of Babylon:

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.

for they prophesy lies to you, to remove you far from your land.

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.

But the nation which shall put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, I will even leave it upon its land, and it shall serve him, and dwell in it.

12 Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

I spoke also to Sedekias king of Juda according to all these words, saying, Put your neck into [the yoke], and serve the king of Babylon.

13 Thus says 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 slaves, saying,

14 At the end of seven years let you go every man his brother an Hebrew, which has been sold to you; and when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you: but your fathers listened not to me, neither inclined their ear.

For they prophesy unrighteous [words] to you,

15 And you were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and you had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:

for I sent them not, says the Lord; and they prophesy [in] my name unjustly, that I might destroy you, and you should perish, and your prophets, who unrighteously prophesy lies to you.

16 But you 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 to you for servants and for handmaids.

I spoke to you, and to all this people, and to the priests, saying, Thus said the Lord; Listen not to the words of the prophets that prophesy to you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the Lord's house shall return from Babylon: for they prophesy to you unrighteous [words].

17 Therefore thus says the LORD; You have not listened to me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, said 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.

I sent them not.

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 two, and passed between the parts thereof,

If they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is in them, let them meet me, for thus has the Lord said.

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;

And as for the remaining vessels,

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 to the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.

which the king of Babylon took not, when he carried Jechonias prisoner out of Jerusalem,

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.

22 Behold, I will command, says 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.

they shall go into Babylon, says the Lord.