[1] The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, when Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth that were
under his dominion, and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem,
and against all the cities of it, saying: [2] Thus says Yahweh, the God of
Israel, Go, and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus says
Yahweh, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon,
and he shall burn it with fire: [3] and you shall not escape out of his
hand, but shall surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and your eyes
shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with you
mouth to mouth, and you shall go to Babylon. [4] Yet hear the word of
Yahweh, O Zedekiah king of Judah: thus says Yahweh concerning you, You
shall not die by the sword; [5] you shall die in peace; and with the
burnings of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so shall
they make a burning for you; and they shall lament you, [saying], Ah Lord!
for I have spoken the word, says Yahweh. [6] Then Jeremiah the prophet
spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, [7] when the
king of Babylon`s army was fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the
cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for
these [alone] remained of the cities of Judah [as] fortified cities. [8]
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after that the king Zedekiah
had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim
liberty to them; [9] that every man should let his man-servant, and every
man his maid-servant, who is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that none
should make bondservants of them, [to wit], of a Jew his brother. [10] All
the princes and all the people obeyed, who had entered into the covenant,
that everyone should let his man-servant, and everyone his maid-servant, go
free, that none should make bondservants of them any more; they obeyed, and
let them go: [11] but afterwards 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
Yahweh came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, [13] Thus says Yahweh, 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 bondage, saying,
[14] At the end of seven years you shall let go every man his brother who
is a Hebrew, who has been sold to you, and has served you six years, you
shall let him go free from you: but your fathers didn`t listen to me,
neither inclined their ear. [15] You were now turned, and had done that
which is right in my eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his
neighbor; and you had made a covenant before me in the house which is
called by my name: [16] but you turned and profaned my name, and caused
every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom you had let go free
at their pleasure, to return; and you brought them into subjection, to be
to you for servants and for handmaids. [17] Therefore thus says Yahweh: you
have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and
every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim to you a liberty, says
Yahweh, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make
you to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth. [18] I
will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed
the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf
in two and passed between the parts of it; [19] the princes of Judah, and
the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people
of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf; [20] I will even
give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who
seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of
the sky, and to the animals of the earth. [21] Zedekiah king of Judah and
his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand
of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon`s
army, who have gone away from you. [22] Behold, I will command, says
Yahweh, 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 inhabitant.
