1: The 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, |
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2: Thus 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: |
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3:
And 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. |
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4: Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus
saith the LORD of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword: |
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5: But 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. |
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6: Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah
king of Judah in Jerusalem, |
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7: When 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. |
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8: This 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; |
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9: That 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. |
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10: Now 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.
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11: But 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. |
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12: Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the
LORD, saying, |
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13: Thus 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, |
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14: At 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. |
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15: And 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: |
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16: But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his
servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their
pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you
for servants and for handmaids. |
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17: Therefore 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. |
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18: And 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, |
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19: The 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; |
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20: I 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. |
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21: And 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. |
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22: Behold, 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. |