Jeremiah 34

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
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 Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and his entire army, and all the kingdoms of the earth that were under the authority of his hand, and all the people were making war against Jerusalem and against all of its cities, 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 says the Lord, the God of Israel: Go, and speak to Zedekiah, the king of Judah. And you shall say to him: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will deliver this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will 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 you will not escape from his hand. Instead, you will be overtaken and captured, and you will be delivered into his hand. And your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth will speak with your mouth, and you will enter into 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 Even so, listen to the word of the Lord, Zedekiah, king of Judah: Thus says the Lord to you: You will 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 Instead, you will die in peace. And, in accord with the burnings of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so will they burn you. And they will mourn you, saying: ‘Alas, lord!’ For I have spoken the word, says the Lord.”
6 The prophet Jeremiah repeated al these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,	6 And Jeremiah, the prophet, spoke all these words to Zedekiah, the 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 And the army of the king of Babylon fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that remained, against Lachish and against Azekah. For only these remained out of the cities of Judah that were fortified 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 Jeremiah from the Lord, after king Zedekiah had struck a pact with all the people in Jerusalem, proclaiming
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 each one should release his man servant, and each one his woman servant, as a free Hebrew man and a free Hebrew woman, and that they should never be rulers over them, that is, over the Jews, their own brothers.
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 Then all the leaders and all the people who entered into the pact, heard that each one should release his man servant, and each one his woman servant, to be free, and that they should no longer rule over them. Therefore, they listened, and they released 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 But later on, they turned back. And they took back again their man servants and their woman servants, whom they had released to be free. And they subjugated them as male and female servants.
12 The word of Yahweh came then to Jeremiah as follows,	12 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah 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 says the Lord, the God of Israel: I struck a pact with your fathers in the day when I led them away from the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude, 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 ‘When seven years have been completed, let each one release his brother, a Hebrew, who had been sold to him. And so he will serve you for six years, and then you shall release him to be free from you.’ But your fathers did not listen 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 today you converted, and you did what is right in my eyes, so that you proclaimed liberty, each one to his friend. And you entered into a pact in my sight, in the house in which and over which my name is invoked.
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 now you have turned back, and you have stained my name. For you have led back again, each one his man servant, and each one his woman servant, whom you had released so that they would be free and under their own authority. And you have subjugated them, so that they would 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 Because of this, thus says the Lord: “You have not heeded me, though you proclaimed liberty, each one to his brother and each one to his friend. Behold, I am proclaiming a liberty for you, says the Lord, to the sword, to pestilence, and to 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 over the men who have betrayed my covenant, and who have not observed the words of the covenant, to which they assented in my sight when they cut the calf into two parts and passed between its parts:
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 leaders of Judah, and the leaders of Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land, who have 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 those who are seeking their life. And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the air and for 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 Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his leaders, I will give over to the hands of their enemies, and to the hands of those who are seeking their lives, and to the hands of the armies of the king of Babylon, which had 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 Behold, I will command, says the Lord, and I will lead them back to this city, and they will fight against it, and seize it, and set it on fire. And I will make the cities of Judah into a desolation, for there shall be no inhabitant.”