The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah when Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and against all its cities, saying,

Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, Go and speak to Zedekiah the king of Judah and say to him, Thus says Jehovah, I am about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire;

And you will not escape from his hand but will surely be captured and given into his hand; and your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he will speak with you mouth to mouth, and you will go into Babylon.

Yet hear the word of Jehovah, O Zedekiah king of Judah, Thus says Jehovah concerning you, You will not die by the sword.

You will die in peace; and as there were burnings for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so men will burn spices for you and wail for you, saying, Alas, lord! Indeed, it is I who have spoken the word, declares Jehovah.

Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah the king of Judah in Jerusalem

When the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah, for these were the fortified cities that remained among the cities of Judah.

The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them,

That every one should set free his male servant and every one his female servant, who is a Hebrew male or a Hebrew female, so that no one should exact service of them, that is, of a Jew his brother.

And all the princes and all the people who had entered into the covenant obeyed, so as to set free every one his male servant and every one his female servant, so that no one would exact service of them again; and they obeyed and set them free.

But afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants, whom they had set free, and they brought them into subjection as male servants and as female servants.

And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,

Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,

At the end of every seven years each of you shall set free his brother who is a Hebrew, who was sold to you and has served you six years, and you shall set him free from you; but your fathers did not listen to Me or incline their ear.

And you had turned in these days and done what is right in My eyes to proclaim liberty, each one to his neighbor, and you made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name.

But you turned and profaned My name when you took back each one his male servant and each one his female servant, whom you had set free according to their desire, and brought them into subjection to be your male servants and your female servants.

Therefore thus says Jehovah, You have not listened to Me to proclaim liberty each one to his brother and each one to his neighbor; I am now proclaiming liberty to you, declares Jehovah, to sword and to pestilence and to famine, and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

And I will give the men who transgressed My covenant and did not establish the words of the covenant which they made before Me when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts,

The princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf -

Indeed, I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life, and their corpses will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.

And Zedekiah the king of Judah and his princes I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, which has withdrawn from you.

I hereby give the command, declares Jehovah, to bring them back to this city; and they will fight against it and capture it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.