1The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord , when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying,[ † ]2 Kings 25:1Jeremiah 32:1-2Jeremiah 39:1Jeremiah 52:4Jeremiah 1:15Jeremiah 25:9Daniel 2:37-38 2Thus saith the Lord , the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the Lord ; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:[ † ]2 Chronicles 36:11-12Jeremiah 22:1-2Jeremiah 37:1-22 Kings 25:9Jeremiah 21:10Jeremiah 32:3-28 3and thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.[ † ]2 Kings 25:4-5Jeremiah 21:7Jeremiah 52:7-112 Kings 25:6-7Jeremiah 32:4Jeremiah 39:5-6 4Yet hear the word of the Lord , O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith the Lord of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword: 5but thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying , Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the Lord .[ † ]2 Chronicles 16:142 Chronicles 21:19Daniel 2:46Jeremiah 22:18
6Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, 7when the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.[ † ]2 Kings 18:132 Kings 19:82 Chronicles 11:5-9
8This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the Lord , after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;[ † ]Exodus 21:2Leviticus 25:10Nehemiah 5:1-13Isaiah 58:6Jeremiah 34:14-17 9that every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit , of a Jew his brother.[ † ]Nehemiah 5:11Leviticus 25:39-46 10Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go. 11But afterward 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.
12Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord , saying, 13Thus saith the Lord , 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 bondmen, saying,[ † ]Exodus 24:3-7, 8Deuteronomy 5:2-3, 27Jeremiah 31:32 14at the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.[ † ]Exodus 21:2Exodus 23:10Deuteronomy 15:121 Kings 9:22 15And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:[ † ]2 Kings 23:3Nehemiah 10:29Jeremiah 7:10 16but ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.[ † ]Exodus 20:7Leviticus 19:12
17Therefore thus saith the Lord ; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord , to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.[ † ]Leviticus 26:34-35Esther 7:10Daniel 6:24Matthew 7:2Galatians 6:7James 2:13Jeremiah 32:24-36Deuteronomy 28:25-64Jeremiah 29:18 18And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,[ † ]Genesis 15:10-17 19the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf; 20I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.[ † ]2 Kings 25:19-21Jeremiah 22:25Deuteronomy 28:261 Samuel 17:44-461 Kings 14:111 Kings 16:4Psalms 79:2Jeremiah 7:33Jeremiah 19:7 21And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you.[ † ]Jeremiah 37:5-11Jeremiah 39:4-7 22Behold, I will command, saith the Lord , 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 an inhabitant.[ † ]Jeremiah 37:8-10Jeremiah 38:3Jeremiah 39:1-2, 8Jeremiah 52:7-13Jeremiah 9:11Jeremiah 44:2-6