Study Desk

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had ^(C1)made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem, to ^(C2)proclaim ^(F1)release to them:

that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, a ^(C1)Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, so that ^(C2)no one would keep them, his Jewish brother or sister, in bondage.

And all the ^(C1)officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, so that no one would keep them in bondage any longer; 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 brought them into subjection as male servants and as female servants.

Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: 'I ^(C1)made a covenant with your forefathers on the day that I ^(C2)brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, saying,

"^(C1)At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who ^(F1)has been sold to you and has served you for six years, and you shall send him out free from you." But your forefathers ^(C2)did not obey Me nor incline their ear to Me.

'Although recently you had turned and ^(C1)done what is right in My sight, each one proclaiming ^(F1)release to his neighbor, and you had ^(C2)made a covenant before Me ^(C3)in the house which is called by My name.

'Yet you ^(C1)turned and ^(C2)profaned My name, and each person ^(F1)took back his male servant and each his female servant whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your male and female servants.'

"Therefore this is what the LORD says: 'You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming ^(F1)release, each one to his brother and each to his neighbor. Behold, I am ^(C1)proclaiming a ^(F1)release to you,' declares the LORD, 'to the ^(C2)sword, to the plague, and to the famine; and I will make you a ^(C3)terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

'I will give the people who have ^(C1)violated My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they ^(C2)cut the calf in two and passed between its parts—

the ^(C1)officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the high officials and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf—

I will hand them over to their enemies and to those who ^(C1)seek their lives. And their ^(C2)dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the earth.

'^(C1)Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will also hand over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives, and to the army of the king of Babylon which has ^(C2)withdrawn from you.

'Behold, I am going to give a command,' declares the LORD, 'and I will bring them back to this city, and they will fight against it and ^(C1)take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a ^(C2)desolation ^(C3)without inhabitant.'"