Jeremiah 34:13

Contemporary English Version

I am the Lord God of Israel, and I made an agreement with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, where they had been slaves.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, saying,

Hebrew Names Version
Thus says the LORD, the God of Yisra'el: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Mitzrayim, out of the house of bondage, saying,

King James Version
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,

English Standard Version
"Thus says the Lord , the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying,

New American Standard Bible
"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: 'I made a covenant with your forefathers on the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, saying,

New Century Version
"This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: I brought your ancestors out of Egypt where they were slaves and made an agreement with them.

Amplified Bible
"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'I made a covenant (solemn pledge) with your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,

World English Bible
Thus says Yahweh, 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 bondage, saying,

Geneva Bible (1587)
Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I made a couenant with your fathers, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of seruants, saying,

Legacy Standard Bible
"Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘I cut a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, saying,

Berean Standard Bible
"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your forefathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying:

Complete Jewish Bible
"Here is what Adonai the God of Isra'el says: ‘When I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, where they lived as slaves, I made this covenant with them:

Darby Translation
Thus saith Jehovah 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 bondage, saying,

Easy-to-Read Version
"This is what the Lord , the God of the people of Israel, says: ‘I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, where they were slaves. When I did that, I made an agreement with them.

George Lamsa Translation
Thus says 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 bondage, saying,

Good News Translation
the God of Israel, told me to say to the people: "I made a covenant with your ancestors when I rescued them from Egypt and set them free from slavery. I told them that

Lexham English Bible
"Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘I made a covenant with your ancestors on the day of my bringing them out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves, saying,

Literal Translation
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,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thus saieth the LORDE God of Israel: I made a couenaunt with youre fathers, when I brought them out of Egipte, (that they shulde no more be bondmen,) sayenge:

American Standard Version
Thus saith Jehovah, 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 bondage, saying,

Bible in Basic English
The Lord, the God of Israel, has said, I made an agreement with your fathers on the day when I took them out of Egypt, out of the prison-house, saying,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
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 bondage, saying:

King James Version (1611)
Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, I made a couenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Thus saith the Lorde God of Israel: I made a couenaunt with your fathers when I brought them out of the lande of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying:

English Revised Version
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 bondage, saying,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The Lord God of Israel seith these thingis, Y smoot a boond of pees with youre fadris, in the dai in which Y ledde hem out of the lond of Egipt, out of the hous of seruage; and Y seide, Whanne seuene yeeris ben fillid,

Update Bible Version
This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: 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 slaves, saying,

Webster's Bible Translation
Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth from the land of Egypt, out of the house of bond-men, saying,

New English Translation
"The Lord God of Israel has a message for you. ‘I made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt where they had been slaves. It stipulated,

New King James Version
"Thus says the LORD, 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,

New Living Translation
"This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestors long ago when I rescued them from their slavery in Egypt.

New Life Bible
"This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I made an agreement with your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house where they were made to work. I said to them,

New Revised Standard
Thus says the Lord , the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Thus, saith Yahweh God of Israel, - I myself, solemnised a covenant with your fathers, in the day when I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves saying:

Douay-Rheims Bible
Thus saith the Lord 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:

Revised Standard Version
"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,

Young's Literal Translation
`Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I -- I made a covenant with your fathers in the day of My bringing them forth from the land of Egypt, from a house of servants, saying,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'I made a covenant with your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, saying,

Contextual Overview

⁸King Zedekiah, his officials, and everyone else in Jerusalem made an agreement to free all Hebrew men and women who were slaves. No Jew would keep another as a slave. And so, all the Jewish slaves were given their freedom. ¹¹ But those slave owners changed their minds and forced their former slaves back into slavery. ¹² That's when the Lord told me to say to the people: ¹³ I am the Lord God of Israel, and I made an agreement with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, where they had been slaves. ¹⁴ As part of this agreement, you must let a Hebrew slave go free after six years of service. Your ancestors did not obey me, ¹⁵but you decided to obey me and do the right thing by setting your Hebrew slaves completely free. You even went to my temple, and in my name you made an agreement to set them free. But you have abused my name, because you broke your agreement and forced your former slaves back into slavery. ¹⁷ You have disobeyed me by not giving your slaves their freedom. So I will give you freedom—the freedom to die in battle or from disease or hunger. I will make you disgusting to all other nations on earth. ¹⁸ You asked me to be a witness when you made the agreement to set your slaves free. And as part of the ceremony you cut a calf into two parts, then walked between the parts. But you people of Jerusalem have broken that agreement as well as my agreement with Israel. So I will do to you what you did to that calf. ¹⁹I will let your enemies take all of you prisoner, including the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the royal officials, the priests, and everyone else who walked between the two parts of the calf. These enemies will kill you and leave your bodies lying on the ground as food for birds and wild animals. ²¹These enemies are King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army. They have stopped attacking Jerusalem, but they want to kill King Zedekiah and his high officials. So I will command them to return and attack again. This time they will conquer the city and burn it down, and they will capture Zedekiah and his officials. I will also let them destroy the towns of Judah, so that no one can live there any longer.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I made: Jeremiah 31:32, Exodus 24:3, Exodus 24:7, Exodus 24:8, Deuteronomy 5:2, Deuteronomy 5:3, Deuteronomy 5:27, Deuteronomy 29:1, Hebrews 8:10, Hebrews 8:11

in the: Jeremiah 7:22, Jeremiah 11:4, Jeremiah 11:7, Deuteronomy 7:8, Deuteronomy 15:15, Deuteronomy 16:12, Deuteronomy 24:18, Joshua 24:17, Judges 6:8

out of: Exodus 13:3, Exodus 13:14, Deuteronomy 5:6, Deuteronomy 6:12, Deuteronomy 8:14, Deuteronomy 13:10, Joshua 24:17, Judges 6:8

Reciprocal: Leviticus 25:10 - proclaim Jeremiah 11:2 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 34:18
Hamor and Shechem liked what was said.

Genesis 34:20
The two men met with the other leaders of their city and told them:

Genesis 34:23
Just think! We'll get their property, as well as their flocks and herds. All we have to do is to agree, and they will live here with us.

Genesis 34:24
Every grown man followed this advice and got circumcised.

Genesis 34:26
including Hamor and Shechem. Then they took Dinah and left.

Genesis 34:27
Jacob's other sons came and took everything they wanted. All this was done because of the horrible thing that had happened to their sister.

Genesis 34:28
They took sheep, goats, donkeys, and everything else that was in the town or the fields.

Genesis 34:29
After taking everything of value from the houses, they dragged away the wives and children of their victims.

Judges 15:3
"This time," Samson answered, "I have a good reason for really hurting some Philistines."

Job 13:4
you are merely useless doctors, who treat me with lies.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel,.... The covenant God of Israel, their Creator, Redeemer, and Benefactor:

I made a covenant with your fathers; gave them a system of laws, among which was that of release of servants:

in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt; that is, at that time, quickly after, when they were come to Mount Sinai; this shows what fathers are meant, the Jewish ancestors that came out of Egypt, brought from thence by the mighty hand of God, and indulged with many favours by him, both in the wilderness, and in the land of Canaan, where he brought and settled them:

out of the house of bondmen; where they were bondmen, servants, and slaves: this is mentioned, to put them in mind of their former state and condition; to observe unto them the foundation and ground of the law concerning servants, how equitable and merciful it was, and to aggravate their sin; who though their fathers had been bondmen, and they must have been so too, had they not been released, yet acted such a cruel part to their servants, who were their brethren, in not discharging them in due time:

saying; giving out the following law, as a part of the covenant made with their fathers.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

It is usual with commentators to say that, the laws dealing with the emancipation of the Hebrew slaves, as also that of the land resting during the sabbatical year, were not observed. The narrative teaches us the exact contrary. The manumission of the slaves on the present occasion was the spontaneous act of Zedekiah and the people. They knew of the law, and acknowledged its obligation. The observance of it was, no doubt, lax: the majority let their own selfish interests prevail; but the minority made might give way to right, and Zedekiah supported their efforts though only in a weak way.

Early in January, in the ninth year of Zedekiah, the Chaldaean army approached Jerusalem. The people made a covenant with the king, who appears as the abettor of the measure, to let their slaves go free. Possibly patriotism had its share in this: and as Jerusalem was strongly fortified, all classes possibly hoped that if the slaves were manumitted, they too would labor with a more hearty good-will in resisting the enemy. In the summer of the same year the Egyptians advanced to the rescue, and Nebuchadnezzar withdrew to meet their attack. The Jews with a strange levity, which sets them before us in a most despicable light, at once forced the manumitted slaves back into bondage. With noble indignation Jeremiah rebukes them for their treachery, assures them that the Chaldaean army will return, and warns them of the certainty of the punishment which they so richly merited.

Jeremiah 34:8

As the Chaldaean army swept over the country the wealthier classes would all flee to Jerusalem, taking with them their households. And as the Mosaic Law was probably more carefully kept there than in the country, the presence in these families of slaves who had grown grey in service may have given offence to the stricter classes at the capital.

To proclaim liberty unto them - The words are those of the proclamation of the year of jubile to the people, whereupon it became their duty to set their slaves free.

Jeremiah 34:9

Should serve himself of them - Should make them serve him (see Jeremiah 25:14).

Jeremiah 34:11

They turned, and caused ... to return - But afterward they again made the slaves return.

Jeremiah 34:13

The house of bondmen - The miserable prison in which, after being worked in the fields all day in gangs, the slaves were shut up at night.

Jeremiah 34:16

At their pleasure - literally, for themselves.

Jeremiah 34:17

I will make you to be removed into - “I will cause you to be a terror unto.” Men would shudder at them.

Jeremiah 34:18

The words ... - The Jews spoke of “cutting” a covenant, because the contracting parties cut a calf in twain and passed between the pieces. Thus cutting a covenant and cutting a calf in twain, meant the same thing.

Jeremiah 34:21

Which are gone up from you - i. e., which have departed for the present, and have raised the siege.