Jeremiah:34

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* The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh , when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon , and all his army , and all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion , and all the peoples , were fighting against Jerusalem , and against all the cities of it , saying : * Thus says Yahweh , the God of Israel , Go , and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah , and tell him , Thus says Yahweh , Behold , I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon , and he shall burn it with fire : * and you shall not escape out of his hand , but shall surely be taken , and delivered into his hand ; and your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon , and he shall speak with you mouth to mouth , and you shall go to Babylon . * Yet hear the word of Yahweh , O Zedekiah king of Judah : thus says Yahweh concerning you , You shall not die by the sword ; * you shall die in peace ; and with the burnings of your fathers , the former kings who were before you , so shall they make a burning for you ; and they shall lament you , saying , Ah Lord ! for I have spoken the word , says Yahweh . * Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem , * when the king of Babylon 's army was fighting against Jerusalem , and against all the cities of Judah that were left , against Lachish and against Azekah ; for these alone remained of the cities of Judah as fortified cities . * The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh , after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem , to proclaim liberty to them ; * that every man should let his male servant , and every man his female servant , who is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess , go free ; that none should make bondservants of them , of a Jew his brother . * All the princes and all the people obeyed , who had entered into the covenant , that everyone should let his male servant , and everyone his female servant , go free , that none should make bondservants of them any more ; they obeyed , and let them go : * but afterwards 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 . * Therefore the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah from Yahweh , saying , * Thus says Yahweh , 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 bondage , saying , * At the end of seven years you shall let go every man his brother who is a Hebrew , who has been sold to you , and has served you six years , you shall let him go free from you : but your fathers didn 't listen to me , neither inclined their ear . * You had now turned , and had done that which is right in my eyes , 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 : * but you turned and profaned my name , and caused every man his servant , and every man his handmaid , whom you had let go free at their pleasure , to return ; and you brought them into subjection , to be to you for servants and for handmaids . * Therefore thus says Yahweh : you have not listened to me , to proclaim liberty , every man to his brother , and every man to his neighbor : behold , I proclaim to you a liberty , says Yahweh , to the sword , to the pestilence , and to the famine ; and I will make you to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth . * I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant , who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me , when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts ; * the princes of Judah , and the princes of Jerusalem , the eunuchs , and the priests , and all the people of the land , who passed between the parts of the calf ; * I will even give them into the hand of their enemies , and into the hand of those who seek their life ; and their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the sky , and to the animals of the earth . * Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies , and into the hand of those who seek their life , and into the hand of the king of Babylon 's army , who have gone away from you . * Behold , I will command , says Yahweh , 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 inhabitant .

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