Jeremiah 34

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
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 This word came to Jeremiah from the LORD while Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and his armies and the earth's kingdoms subject to him, as well as the other peoples, were all attacking Jerusalem and all her cities:
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 says the LORD, the God of Israel: Go to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and tell him: Thus says the LORD: I am handing this city over to the king of Babylon; he will destroy 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 Neither shall you escape his hand; rather you will be captured and fall into his hands. You shall see the king of Babylon and speak to him face to face. Then you shall be taken 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 But if you obey the word of the LORD, Zedekiah, king of Judah, then, says the LORD to you, you shall 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 You shall die in peace, and they will lament you as their lord, and burn spices for your burial as they did for your fathers, the kings who preceded you from the first; it is I who make this promise, says the LORD.
6 The prophet Jeremiah repeated al these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,	6 The prophet Jeremiah told all these things to Zedekiah, king of Judah, 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 while the armies of the king of Babylon were attacking Jerusalem and the remaining cities of Judah, Lachish, and Azekah, since these alone were left of the fortified cities of Judah.
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 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made an agreement with all the people in Jerusalem to issue an edict of emancipation.
9 each man was to free his Hebrew slaves, men and women, no one was any longer to keep a brotherJudaean in slavery.	9 Everyone was to free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should hold a man of Judah, his brother, in slavery.
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 All the princes and the others who entered the agreement consented to set free their male and female servants, so that they should be slaves no longer. But though they agreed and freed them,
11 Afterwards, however, they changed their minds, recovered the slaves, men and women, whom theyhad set free, and reduced them to slavery again.	11 afterward they took back their male and female slaves whom they had set free and again forced them into service.
12 The word of Yahweh came then to Jeremiah as follows,	12 Then this word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
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 says the LORD, the God of Israel: The day I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the place where they were slaves, I made this covenant with them:
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 Every seventh year each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself to you; six years he shall serve you, but then you shall let him go free. Your fathers, however, did not heed me or obey me.
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 Today you indeed repented and did what is right in my eyes by proclaiming the emancipation of your brethren and making an agreement before me in the house that is named after me.
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 But then you changed your mind and profaned my name by taking back your male and female slaves to whom you had given their freedom; you forced them once more into slavery.
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 says the LORD: You did not obey me by proclaiming your neighbors and kinsmen free. I now proclaim you free, says the LORD, for the sword, famine, and pestilence. I will make you an object of horror 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 The men who violated my covenant and did not observe the terms of the agreement which they made before me, I will make like the calf which they cut in two, between whose two parts they passed.
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 Judah and of Jerusalem, the courtiers, the priests, and the common people, who 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 I will hand over, all of them, to their enemies, to those who seek their lives: their corpses shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.
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 Zedekiah, too, king of Judah, and his princes, I will hand over to their enemies, to those who seek their lives, to the soldiers of the king of Babylon who have at present withdrawn 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 I will give the command, says the LORD, and bring them back to this city. They shall attack and capture it, and destroy it with fire; the cities of Judah I will turn into a desert where no man dwells.