Jeremiah:34:8-22

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* This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD , after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem , to proclaim liberty unto them ; * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD , saying , * Thus saith 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 bondmen , saying , * At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew , which hath been sold unto thee ; and when he hath served thee six years , thou shalt let him go free from thee : but your fathers hearkened not unto me , neither inclined their ear . * And ye were now turned , and had done right in my sight , in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour ; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name : * But ye turned and polluted my name , and caused every man his servant , and every man his handmaid , whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure , to return , and brought them into subjection , to be unto you for servants and for handmaids . * Therefore thus saith the LORD ; Ye have not hearkened unto me , in proclaiming liberty , every one to his brother , and every man to his neighbour : behold , I proclaim a liberty for you , saith 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 . * 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 twain , and passed between the parts thereof , * 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 ; * 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 unto the fowls of the heaven , and to the beasts of the earth . * 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 . * Behold , I will command , saith 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 .

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