“1 The word which came unto 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, 2 Thus saith the
LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and
tell him, Thus saith 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 thou
shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and
delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the
king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou
shalt go to Babylon. 4 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of
Judah; Thus saith the LORD of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword: 5
[But] thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the
former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn [odours] for
thee; and they will lament thee, [saying], Ah lord! for I have
pronounced the word, saith the LORD. 6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spake
all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, 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 defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.”
“8 [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; 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. 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. 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. 12 Therefore the word of the
LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 13 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, 14 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. 15 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: 16 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. 17 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. 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 twain,
and passed between the parts thereof, 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; 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 unto the fowls
of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth. 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, 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.” (Jeremiah
34:1-22 AV)