Jeremiah 34-35

Jeremiah 34

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion, and all the peoples, fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities thereof, saying,

²Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.

³And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt certainly be taken, and given into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak with thy mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.

⁴Only, hear the word of Jehovah, O Zedekiah king of Judah. Thus saith Jehovah as to thee: Thou shalt not die by the sword;

⁵thou shalt die in peace, and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings that were before thee, so shall they burn for thee; and they will lament for thee, Ah, lord! for I have spoken the word, saith Jehovah.

⁶And the prophet Jeremiah spoke all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem.

⁷And the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah; for these were amongst the cities of Judah, the fenced cities that were left.

⁸The word that came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them:

⁹that every man should let his bondman, and every man his bondmaid, the Hebrew and the Hebrewess, go free, that none should exact service of them, that is, of a Jew his brother.

¹⁰And all the princes and all the people that had entered into the covenant obeyed, every man letting his bondman and every man his bondmaid go free, that none should exact service of them any more: they obeyed, and let them go.

¹¹But afterwards they turned, and caused the bondmen and the bondmaids whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for bondmen and for bondmaids.

¹²And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,

¹³Thus 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,

¹⁴At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother, a Hebrew, who hath sold himself unto thee; when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee. But your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.

¹⁵And you, ye had this day turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:

¹⁶but ye have turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his bondman, and every man his bondmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and ye have brought them into subjection, to be unto you for bondmen and for bondmaids.

¹⁷Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith Jehovah, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will give you over to be driven hither and thither among all the kingdoms of the earth.

¹⁸And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, -- the calf which they cut in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,

¹⁹-- the princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, that passed between the parts of the calf;

²⁰them will I give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of them that seek their life; and their carcases shall be food for the fowl of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth.

²¹And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you.

²²Behold, I command, saith Jehovah, and I will cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.

Jeremiah 35

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, saying,

²Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak with them, and bring them into the house of Jehovah, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.

³And I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites,

⁴and I brought them into the house of Jehovah, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold.

⁵And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink wine.

⁶And they said, We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, ye nor your sons for ever;

⁷neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor shall ye have any; but all your days ye shall dwell in tents, that ye may live many days in the land where ye sojourn.

⁸And we have hearkened unto the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters,

⁹and not to build houses for us to dwell in; neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed;

¹⁰but we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

¹¹And it came to pass when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come and let us go into Jerusalem because of the army of the Chaldeans, and because of the army of Syria; and we dwell at Jerusalem.

¹²And the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, saying,

¹³Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken unto my words? saith Jehovah.

¹⁴The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they have drunk none, for they have obeyed their father's commandment. But I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking, and ye have not hearkened unto me.

¹⁵And I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them; and ye shall dwell in the land that I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear nor hearkened unto me.

¹⁶Yea, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people hath not hearkened unto me;

¹⁷therefore thus saith Jehovah the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken unto them, but they have not hearkened, and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.

¹⁸And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his injunctions, and have done according unto all that he hath commanded you;

¹⁹therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, There shall not fail to Jonadab the son of Rechab a man to stand before me, for ever.