Jeremiah:34

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* Jehovah spoke his word to Jeremiah when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon , his entire army , and all the kingdoms and people that he ruled were attacking Jerusalem and all its cities . This is what he said : * »This is what Jehovah the God of Israel says : ‘Go to King Zedekiah of Judah , and tell him , Jehovah says : »I am going to hand this city over to the king of Babylon . He will burn it down . * »You will not escape from him . You will certainly be captured and handed over to him . You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes , and he will talk to you face to face . Then you will go to Babylon . * »Listen to the word of Jehovah , King Zedekiah of Judah . This is what Jehovah says about you : ‘You will not die in war . * ‘You will die peacefully . People will burn funeral fires for you as they did for your ancestors , the kings who lived before you .’ They will say : »Oh , master , as they mourn for you . I have spoken my word , declares Jehovah .« ’« ’« * The prophet Jeremiah told all these things to King Zedekiah of Judah in Jerusalem . * He did this when the army of the king of Babylon was attacking Jerusalem and the cities of Lachish and Azekah . These were the only fortified cities of Judah that were left . * Jehovah spoke his word to Jeremiah after King Zedekiah and all the people in Jerusalem promised to free their slaves . * Everyone was supposed to free his Hebrew slaves , both male and female . No one was supposed to keep another Jew as a slave . * All the officials and all the people agreed and promised to free their male and female slaves and not to keep them as slaves anymore . So they set them free . * Later they changed their minds and took back the men and women they had freed and made them their slaves again . * Jehovah continued to speak his word to Jeremiah : * »This is what Jehovah the God of Israel says : ‘I put a condition on the covenant I made to your ancestors when I brought them from Egypt , where they were slaves . I said : * »Every seven years each of you must free any Hebrews who sold themselves to you . When they have served you for six years , you must set them free . But your ancestors refused to obey me or listen to me . * »You changed and did what I consider right . You agreed to free your neighbors , and you made a covenant in my presence , in the Temple that is called by my name . * »Now you have changed again and dishonored me . You brought back the male and females slaves that you had set free to live their own lives . You have forced them to be your male and female slaves again .’ * »This is what Jehovah says : ‘You did not obey me . You have not freed your relatives and neighbors . Now I am going to free you ,’ declares Jehovah . ‘I will free you to die in wars , plagues , and famines . I will make all the kingdoms of the world horrified at the thought of you . * I will hand over the people who have rejected my covenant . They have not kept the terms of the covenant they made in my presence when they cut a calf in two and passed between its pieces . * I will hand over the officials of Judah and Jerusalem , the palace officials , the priests , and all the common people who passed between the pieces of the calf . * I will hand them over to their enemies who want to kill them . Their corpses will be food for birds and wild animals . * I will hand King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials over to their enemies who want to kill them and to the army of the king of Babylon , the army that has withdrawn from you .’ * »‘I am going to give a command ,’ declares Jehovah . ‘I will bring that army back to this city to attack it , capture it , and burn it down . I will destroy the cities of Judah so that no one will live there .’«

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