1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, whencch. 39:1; 52:4; 2 Kgs. 25:1 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his armydch. 1:15; [ch. 51:28] and all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all of its cities: 2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Go and speak toe2 Kgs. 25:2 Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord :fSee ch. 21:10 Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. 3 gSee ch. 32:4 You shall not escape from his hand but shall surely be captured and delivered into his hand.gSee ch. 32:4 You shall see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face. And you shall go to Babylon. ’ 4 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah!h[ch. 38:17, 20; 39:4, 7] Thus says the Lord concerning you:h[ch. 38:17, 20; 39:4, 7] ‘You shall not die by the sword. 5 You shall die in peace.i1 Sam. 31:12; 2 Chr. 21:19 And as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so people shallj2 Chr. 16:14 burn spices for youk[ch. 22:18] and lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord! ” ’ For I have spoken the word, declares the Lord. ”
6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, 7 when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left,lJosh. 10:3 Lachish andmJosh. 10:10; 15:35 Azekah,n2 Kgs. 18:13 for these were the onlyoch. 4:5 fortified cities of Judah that remained.
8 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiahpver. 15 had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalemqver. 15, 17; Ex. 21:2; Lev. 25:10; [Isa. 61:1] to make a proclamation of liberty to them, 9 rSee Lev. 25:39-46 that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female,s[Neh. 5:8] so that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother. 10 And they obeyed, all the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant that everyone would set free his slave, male or female, so that they would not be enslaved again. They obeyed and set them free. 11 But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slavesr[See ver. 9 above] they had set free, and brought them into subjection as slaves. 12 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord : 13 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your fathers whentEx. 20:2 I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying, 14 uEx. 21:2; Deut. 15:12 ‘At the end of seven years each of you must set free the fellow Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years;r[See ver. 9 above] you must set him free from your service. ’ Butvch. 7:24, 26; 11:8; 17:23; 25:4; 35:15; 44:5 your fathers did not listen to me or incline their ears to me. 15 You recently repented and did what was right in my eyesp[See ver. 8 above] by proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, andwver. 8; [2 Kgs. 23:3] you made a covenant before me in thexSee ch. 7:10 house that is called by my name, 16 but then you turned aroundyLev. 18:21; 19:12 and profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves,zver. 11 whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your slaves.
17 Therefore, thus says the Lord : You have not obeyed mep[See ver. 8 above] by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor;a[Matt. 7:2; Gal. 6:7; James 2:13] behold, I proclaim to you libertybSee ch. 14:12 to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the Lord.cSee ch. 15:4 I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms ofw[See ver. 15 above] the covenant that they made before me, I will make them liked[Gen. 15:10] the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts— 19 the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem,ech. 29:2 the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. 20 And I will give them into the hand of their enemiesfSee ch. 22:25 and into the hand of those who seek their lives.gSee ch. 7:33 Their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. 21 Andh[ver. 2, 4, 8] Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of the army of the king of Babylonich. 37:5, 11 which has withdrawn from you. 22 Behold,jIsa. 10:6 I will command, declares the Lord, and willkch. 37:8; 38:3 bring them back to this city.kch. 37:8; 38:3 And they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire.lch. 9:11 I will make the cities of Judah a desolationmSee ch. 4:7 without inhabitant. ”