Jeremiah 34

A Warning to King Zedekiah

1 This word came to Jeremiah from the LORD when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his entire army, all the kingdoms under his control, and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and its surrounding cities.

2 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Go and tell Zedekiah king of Judah: ‘I am handing this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.’”

3 “‘You will not escape from his hand but will surely be captured and handed over to him. You will see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him 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 peacefully. People will burn incense in your honor like they did for your fathers, the former kings before you. They will mourn for you, saying, “Alas, lord!” I myself have spoken this,’ declares the LORD.”

Jeremiah Speaks to Zedekiah

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

7 While the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the remaining cities of Judah, Lachish and Azekah, the last fortified cities still standing.

The Broken Covenant of Freedom

8 This word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom for them.

9 Each man was to free his Hebrew male and female slaves, so that no one would keep a fellow Jew enslaved.

10 All the officials and people who entered into the covenant agreed. They freed their slaves and no longer held them in bondage.

11 But afterward they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed, forcing them to be slaves again.

God Rebukes Their Hypocrisy

12 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

13 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your fathers when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying?”

14 “‘At the end of seven years, each of you must free your fellow Hebrew who sold himself to you. After serving you six years, you must let him go free.’ But your fathers did not listen or incline their ears.”

15 “You recently repented and did what was right in My sight by proclaiming freedom to one another. You even made a covenant before Me in the house that bears My name.”

16 “But then you turned around and profaned My name. Each of you took back the male and female slaves you had freed and forced them back into slavery.”

Judgment for Breaking the Covenant

17 “Therefore, this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed Me by proclaiming freedom to your fellow countrymen. So now I proclaim freedom for you, freedom to the sword, to plague, and to famine,” declares the LORD. “I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.”

18 “I will hand over those who violated My covenant, who did not keep the terms of the covenant they made before Me, Those who cut the calf in two and passed between its pieces.”

19 “The officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf?”

20 “I will hand them over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.”

21 “And Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will hand over to their enemies, To those who seek their lives, To the army of the king of Babylon that has withdrawn from you.”

22 “I am about to give the command,” declares the LORD, “and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it with fire. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”