This is the word that came to Jeremiah - - from the LORD when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon , all his army , all the earthly kingdoms under his control ... , and all the other nations were fighting against Jerusalem ... and all its surrounding cities ....
- The LORD , the God of Israel , told (Jeremiah -) to go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him that this is what the LORD says : “ Behold , I am about to deliver this city - into the hand of the king of Babylon , and he will burn it down ....
And you yourself will not escape his grasp , but will surely be captured ... and delivered into his hand. You will see the king of Babylon eye - to eye and speak with him face to face ; and you will go to Babylon.
Yet hear the word of the LORD , O Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the LORD says concerning you : You will not die by the sword ;
you will die in peace. As (spices) were burned for your fathers , the former kings who preceded you , so (people) will burn (spices) and lament ‘ Alas , O master !’ For I Myself have spoken this word , declares the LORD. ”
In Jerusalem, then , Jeremiah - the prophet relayed all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah -
as the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem ... vvv and the remaining cities of Judah — against Lachish ... and Azekah. For these were the only fortified cities - remaining in Judah.
After King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people - in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty , the word - came to Jeremiah - from the LORD
that each man - should free ... his Hebrew slaves , (both male) and female ... , and no one - should hold his fellow Jew {in bondage} -.
So all the officials and all the people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free ... - - their menservants ... - and maidservants and no longer hold them in bondage -. They obeyed and released them ,
but later - they changed their minds and took back - the menservants and maidservants - they had freed ... , and they forced them to become slaves again.
Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah - - from the LORD , saying ,
“ This is what the LORD , the God of Israel , says : I made a covenant with your forefathers when I brought them out - of the land of Egypt , out of the house of slavery , saying :
Every seventh year , each - of you must free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself He may serve you six years , but then you must let him go free -. But your fathers ... ... did not listen or incline - their ear.
Recently you repented and did - what pleased Me ; each of you proclaimed freedom for his neighbor. You made a covenant before Me in the house that bears My Name ....
But now you have changed your minds and profaned - My name. Each of you - has taken back the menservants and maidservants ... - - whom you had set at liberty to go wherever they wanted , and you have again forced them to be slaves ....
Therefore this is what the LORD says : You have not obeyed Me ; you have not proclaimed freedom , each man for his brother ... and for his neighbor. So now I proclaim freedom declares the LORD — (freedom) to (fall) by sword , by plague , and by famine ! I will make you - a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
And those who have transgressed - My covenant - and have not fulfilled - the terms of the covenant - they made before Me , I will treat - - like the calf - they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces.
The officials of Judah ... and Jerusalem , the court officials , the priests , and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf ,
I will deliver - into the hands of their enemies ... who seek their lives. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.
And I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah - and his officials into the hands of their enemies - who seek their lives , ... to the army of the king of Babylon that had withdrawn from you.
Behold , I am going to give the command , declares the LORD , and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it , capture it , and burn it down .... And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation , without inhabitant.”