Jeremiah 34:1-35:19

LITV^{(i) 1} The word which was to Jeremiah from Jehovah when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth (because his hand rules), and all the peoples fought against Jerusalem, and against all its cities, saying, ² So says Jehovah, the God of Israel: Go and speak to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and tell him, So says Jehovah, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire. ³ And you shall not escape out of his hand, but shall surely be captured and delivered into his hand. And your eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak, his mouth with your mouth; and you shall go to Babylon. ⁴ Yet hear the word of Jehovah, O Zedekiah, king of Judah: So says Jehovah concerning you, You shall not die by the sword. ⁵ You shall die in peace. And as the burnings of spices for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they shall burn spices for you, saying, Ah, lord! They will wail for you. For I have spoken the word, says Jehovah. ⁶ And Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah, king of Judah, in Jerusalem, ⁷ when the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that remained; against Lachish, and against Azekah; for these fortified cities remained of the cities of Judah. ⁸ The word that was to Jeremiah from Jehovah after king Zedekiah had cut a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them, ⁹ that each man should release his male slave, and each man his female slave, if a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, to go free, that not any should enslave a Jew, a man, his brother among them. ¹⁰ And all the rulers obeyed, and all the people who had entered into the covenant allowed them to go free, each man his male slave, and each man his female slave; so that not any should enslave among them any more; and they obeyed and let them go. ¹¹ But afterward they turned and caused to return the male slaves and the female slaves whom they sent away. And they subjected them for male slaves and for female slaves. ¹² For this reason the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, ¹³ So says Jehovah, the God of Israel: I cut a covenant with your fathers in the day I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, ¹⁴ At the end of seven years each man should let go his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to him. When he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you. But your fathers did not listen to Me nor bow down their ear. ¹⁵ And you had turned today, and you did right in My eyes, to call for liberty, each man to his neighbor. And you cut a covenant before Me in the house on which is called My name. ¹⁶ But you turned and profaned My name, and each man caused his male slave, and each man his female slave, to return whom you had sent away according to their desire. And you subjected them to be slaves and female slaves to you. ¹⁷ So Jehovah says this: You have not listened to Me, to call for liberty, each man to his brother, and each man to his neighbor. Behold, I call for freedom to you, says Jehovah: to the sword, to the plague, and to the famine. And I will cause you to be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. ¹⁸ And I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not stood on the words of the covenant which they have cut with Me when they cut the calf in two, and passed between its parts, ¹⁹ the rulers of Judah and the rulers of Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf; ²⁰ I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their life. And their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the heavens, and to the beasts of the earth. ²¹ And I will give Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his rulers, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their life, even into the hand of the king of Babylon's army that has withdrawn from you. ²² Behold, I will command and cause them to return to this city, says Jehovah. And they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire. And I will make the cities of Judah a ruin, without a soul to live in it. ^{35 1} The word which was to Jeremiah from Jehovah in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ² Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them, and bring them to the house of Jehovah, into one of the rooms, and give them wine to drink. ³ Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites. ⁴ And I brought them into the house of Jehovah, into the room of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was near the room of the rulers, above the room of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold. ⁵ And I set bowls and cups full of wine before the sons of the house of the Rechabites. And I said to them, Drink wine. ⁶ But they said, We will not drink wine, for Jonadab, the son of Rechab our father, commanded us, saying, You shall not drink wine, you nor your sons forever. ⁷ And you shall not build a house nor sow seed, nor plant a vineyard, nor shall there be anything to you; but all your days you shall live in tents, so that you may live many days on the face of the land where you are residing. ⁸ And we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab our father, to all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters, ⁹ nor to build houses for us for our dwelling; nor do we have a vineyard, or field, or seed. ¹⁰ But we live in tents, and we have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. ¹¹ But it happened when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, then we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem, because of the army of the Chaldeans and because of the army of the Syrians. And we live in Jerusalem. ¹² Then the word of Jehovah was to Jeremiah, saying, ¹³ So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Go and tell the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem, Will you not receive instruction, to listen to My words? says Jehovah. ¹⁴ The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab are done, in which he commanded his sons not to drink wine. And to this day they do not drink, but obey their father's command. But I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking; and you did not listen to Me. ¹⁵ I have also sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending, saying, Each man now return from his evil way, and amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and you shall live in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers. But you have not bowed your ear, nor listened to Me. ¹⁶ Because the sons of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have stood on the command of their father which he gave them, but this people has not listened to Me, ¹⁷ so Jehovah, God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says this, Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the people of Jerusalem all the evil that I have spoken against them because I have spoken to them, but they did not listen. Yea, I have called to them, but they did not answer. ¹⁸ And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, So says Jehovah of Hosts the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed your father Jonadab's command, and have kept all his commands, and have done according to all that he has commanded you, ¹⁹ so Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, says this: Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not have a man cut off from standing before Me all the days.