Jeremiah 34

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 The word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his whole army,with all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion and al the peoples, were waging war on Jerusalem and alits towns,	1 The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, (when Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth, that were under the power of his hand, and all the people fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities thereof,) saying:
2 'Yahweh, God of Israel, says this, "Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tel him, Yahweh saysthis: I am going to hand this city over to the power of the king of Babylon, and he wil burn it down.	2 Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Go, and speak to Sedecias king of Juda, and say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will deliver this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
3 And you yourself wil not escape his clutches but wil certainly be captured and handed over to him.You will see the king of Babylon face to face and speak to him personal y. Then you wil go to Babylon.	3 And thou shalt not escape out of his hand: but thou shalt surely be taken, and thou shalt be delivered into his hand: and thy eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak with thy mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
4 Even so, listen to the word of Yahweh, Zedekiah king of Judah! This is what Yahweh says about you:You will not die by the sword;	4 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Sedecias king of Juda: Thus saith the Lord to thee: Thou shalt not die by the sword.
5 you will die in peace. And as spices were burnt for your ancestors, the kings who in times pastpreceded you, so spices wil be burnt for you and a dirge sung for you: Alas for his highness! I have spoken,Yahweh declares." '	5 But thou shalt die in peace, and according to the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings that were before thee, so shall they burn thee: and they shall mourn for thee, saying: Alas, Lord: for I have spoken the word, saith the Lord.
6 The prophet Jeremiah repeated al these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,	6 And Jeremias the prophet spoke all these words to Sedecias the king of Juda in Jerusalem.
7 while the army of the king of Babylon was attacking Jerusalem and al such towns of Judah as still heldout, namely Lachish and Azekah, these being the only fortified towns of Judah remaining.	7 And the army of the king of Babylon fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Juda that were left, against Lachis, and against Azecha: for these remained of the cities of Juda, fenced cities.
8 The word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the peoplein Jerusalem to issue a proclamation freeing their slaves:	8 The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, after that king Sedecias had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem making a proclamation:
9 each man was to free his Hebrew slaves, men and women, no one was any longer to keep a brotherJudaean in slavery.	9 That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, go free: and that they should not lord it over them, to wit, over the Jews their brethren.
10 Al the chief men and all the people who had entered into the covenant had agreed that everyoneshould free his slaves, men or women, and no longer keep them as slaves: they had agreed on this and setthem free.	10 And all the princes, and all the people who entered into the covenant, heard that every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant go free, and should no more have dominion over them: and they obeyed, and let them go free.
11 Afterwards, however, they changed their minds, recovered the slaves, men and women, whom theyhad set free, and reduced them to slavery again.	11 But afterwards they turned: and brought back again their servants and their handmaids, whom they had let go free, and brought them into subjection as menservants and maidservants.
12 The word of Yahweh came then to Jeremiah as follows,	12 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias from the Lord, saying:
13 'Yahweh, God of Israel, says this, "I made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out ofEgypt, out of the house of slavery; it said:	13 Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying:
14 At the end of seven years each one of you is to free his brother Hebrew who has sold himself to you:he may be your slave for six years, then you must send him away free. But your ancestors did not listen to meand would not pay attention.	14 At the end of seven years, let ye go every man his brother being a Hebrew, who hath been sold to thee, so he shall serve thee six years: and thou shalt let him go free from thee: and your fathers did not hearken to me, nor did they incline their ear.
15 Now, today you repented and did what pleases me by proclaiming freedom for your neighbour; youmade a covenant before me in the Temple that bears my name.	15 And you turned to day, and did that which was right in my eyes, in proclaiming liberty every one to his brother: and you made a covenant in my sight, in the house upon which my name is invocated.
16 And then you changed your minds and, profaning my name, each of you has recovered his slaves,men and women, whom you had sent away free to live their own lives, and has forced them to become yourslaves again."	16 And you are fallen back, and have defiled my name: and you have brought back again every man his manservant, and every man his maidservant, whom you had let go free, and set at liberty: and you have brought them into subjection to be your servants and handmaids.
17 'So Yahweh says this: "You have disobeyed me, by failing to grant freedom to brother and neighbour.Very well, I in my turn, Yahweh declares, shal leave sword, famine and plague free to deal with you and I shalmake you an object of horror to al the kingdoms of the earth.	17 Therefore thus saith the Lord: You have not hearkened to me, in proclaiming liberty every man to his brother and every man to his friend: behold I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine: and I will cause you to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth.
18 As for the people who have broken my covenant, who have not observed the terms of the covenantwhich they made before me, I shall treat them like the calf that people cut in two to pass between its pieces.	18 And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, and have not performed the words of the covenant which they agreed to in my presence, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts thereof:
19 The chief men of Judah and Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and al the country people who havepassed between the pieces of the calf,	19 The princes of Juda, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land that passed between the parts of the calf:
20 I shal hand over to their enemies and those determined to kil them, and their corpses wil be food forthe birds of the sky and the animals of earth.	20 And I will give them into the hands of their enemies, and into the hands of them that seek their life : and their dead bodies shall be for meat to the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the earth.
21 As for Zedekiah king of Judah and his chief men, I shall hand them to their enemies, to thosedetermined to kil them, and to the army of the king of Babylon which has just withdrawn.	21 And Sedecias the king of Juda, and his princes, I will give into the hands of their enemies, and into the hands of them that seek their lives, and into the hands of the armies of the king of Babylon, which are gone from you.
22 Listen, I shall give the order, Yahweh declares, and bring them back to this city to attack it andcapture it and burn it down. And I shal make an uninhabited waste of the towns of Judah." '	22 Behold I will command, saith the Lord, and I will bring them again to this city, and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Juda a desolation, without an inhabitant.