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,
02 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:
03 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.
04 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:
05 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.
06 Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these
words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,
07 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.
08 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;
09 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,
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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 he 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.
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