Jeremiah 34:1-35:19

MKJV^{(i) 1} The Word which came 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 shall 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 with you mouth to mouth, and you shall go to Babylon. ⁴ Yet hear the Word of Jehovah, O Zedekiah king of Judah: So says Jehovah of 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 which were before you, so they shall burn spices for you. And they will mourn you, saying, Ah, lord! For I have spoken the Word, says Jehovah. ⁶ Then 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 remaining cities of Judah; against Lachish, and against Azekah; for these fortified cities remained of the cities of Judah. ⁸ The Word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, after King Zedekiah had cut a covenant with all the people at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them, ⁹ that each man should let his male slave, and each man his female slave, if a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, to go free, that none should enslave a Jew, 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 the slaves and slave women whom they had let go free, to return! And they subjected them for slaves and slave women. ¹² So 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 that I brought them out from 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, a Hebrew, and who has been sold to him. And 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 ears. ¹⁵ And you had turned today, and had done right in My sight to call for liberty, each man to his neighbor. And you had cut a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name. ¹⁶ But you turned and defiled My name, and each man caused his slave, and each man caused his slave woman, whom you had set free to do as they pleased, to return. And you brought them into service to be slaves and slave women to you. ¹⁷ So Jehovah says this: You have not listened to Me to proclaim liberty each man to his brother, and each man to his neighbor! Behold, I call for freedom for 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 sinned against My covenant, who have not done the words of the covenant which they cut before 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 who seek 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 who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, who have withdrawn from you. ²² Behold, I will command, says Jehovah, and cause them to return to this city. And they shall fight against it and capture it, and burn it with fire. And I will make the cities of Judah a desert without a soul to live in it. ^{35 1} The Word which came 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 into 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 door. ⁵ And I set pots full of wine, and cups, before the sons of the house of the Rechabites. And I said to them, Drink wine! ⁶ But they said, We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, You shall drink no wine, you nor your sons forever. ⁷ Nor shall you build houses, nor sow seed, nor plant a vineyard, nor have anything; but all your days you shall live in tents, so that you may live many days in the land where you are strangers. ⁸ So we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he has commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters; ⁹ nor to build houses for us to live in. Nor do we have vineyard, nor field, nor seed. ¹⁰ But we have lived in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. ¹¹ But it happened when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, we said, Come and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the Chaldean army, and for fear of the Syrian army. So we are living at Jerusalem. ¹² Then came the Word of Jehovah 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, which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are done. For to this day they do not drink, but obey their father's commandment. But I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you did not listen to Me. ¹⁵ I have also sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending, saying, Return now each man from his evil way, and make your doings good, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and you shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers. But you have not bowed down your ear, nor listened to Me. ¹⁶ Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have done the commandment of their father, which He commanded them; but this people has not listened to Me; ¹⁷ therefore so says Jehovah, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: 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 have not heard; and I have called to them, but they have not answered. ¹⁸ And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, and have kept all his precepts, and have done according to all that he has commanded you; ¹⁹ therefore so says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me forever.