Jeremiah 34–36

A Message for Zedekiah

34The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, when Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and all his army, with all the kingdoms of the earth under the dominion of his hand, and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and against all its cities, saying,^{a 2}“Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘Go and say to Zedekiah the king of Judah, now you must say to him, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Look, I am going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire. ³And you will not escape from his hand, but surely you will be captured, and into his hand you will be given, and you will see the king of Babylon eye to eye,^b and you will speak face to face with him,^c and to Babylon you will go.’ ⁴However, hear the word of Yahweh, O Zedekiah, the king of Judah. Thus says Yahweh concerning you: ‘You will not die by the sword. ⁵In peace you will die, and as there was burning for your ancestors,^d the former kings who were before you,^e so they will burn for you, and they will lament for you, “Alas, lord!” For the word I have spoken,’ declares^f Yahweh.” ’ ” ⁶Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Zedekiah the king of Judah all these words in Jerusalem ⁷when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left over—Lachish and Azekah, for these remained among the cities of Judah, the cities of fortification.

Zedekiah’s Covenant Concerning Slaves

⁸The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after king Zedekiah made^g a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim release to them, ⁹to let go each one his male slave and each one his female slave, the Hebrew and the free Hebrew, so that no one among the Judeans^h should enslave his fellow countryman. ¹⁰And all the officials and all the people obeyed, who had entered into the covenant to let go each one his male slave and each one his female slave, not enslaving them again, and they obeyed and they let themⁱ go. ¹¹But afterward^j they turned back and they brought back the male slaves and the female slaves whom they had let go free, and they subdued them as male slaves and female slaves.

¹²And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,^{k 13}“Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘I made^l a covenant with your ancestors^m on the day of my bringing them out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves, saying,^{n 14}“At the end of seven years you must let go each one his fellow countryman, the Hebrew who has been sold to you and who has served you six years, and you must let him go free from you.” But your ancestors^o did not listen to me, and they did not incline their ears.^{p 15}And you turned back recently^q and you did right in my eyes, to proclaim release each one to his neighbor, and you made^r a covenant before me^s in the house that is called by^t my name. ¹⁶But you turned back and you profaned my name when you brought back each one his male slave and each one his female slave, whom you had let go free according to their desire, and you subdued them to be to you as male slaves and as female slaves.’

¹⁷“Therefore^u thus says Yahweh, ‘You have not listened to me to proclaim release each one to his fellow countryman and each one to his neighbor. Look, I am going to proclaim to you a release,’ declares^v Yahweh, ‘to the sword, to the plague, and to the famine, and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. ¹⁸And I will make the men who transgressed my covenant, who have not kept the words of the covenant that they made^w before me,^x like the calf which they cut in two and they passed between its parts— ¹⁹the officials of Judah, and the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf— ²⁰and I will give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of the seekers of their lives, and their dead bodies^y will become as food for the birds^z of the heavens^a and for the animals^b of the earth. ²¹And Zedekiah the king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of the seekers of their lives, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, who retreated from you. ²²Look, I am going to command,’ declares^c Yahweh, ‘and I will bring them back to this city, and they will fight against it, and they will capture it, and they will burn it with fire, and the towns of Judah I will make a desolation without^d an inhabitant.’ ”

The Faithfulness of the Rechabites

35The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, saying,^{a 2}“Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak with them, and bring them to the house of Yahweh into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.” ³So I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole of the house of the Rechabites, ⁴and I brought them to the house of Yahweh, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was beside the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold.

⁵Then I set^b before^c the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” ⁶But they answered, “We will not drink wine, for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our ancestor,^d commanded us, saying,^e ‘You shall not drink wine, you or your children, forever.^{f 7}And you shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed, and you shall not plant a vineyard, and it shall not be for you, but in tents you shall live all your days, so that you may live many days on the surface of the land where you are dwelling as aliens.’ ⁸And we obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our ancestor,^g in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, ⁹and not to build houses for our living, and there is not vineyard, or field, or seed for us. ¹⁰But we have lived in tents, and we have obeyed, and we have done all that Jehonadab, our ancestor,^h commanded us. ¹¹But thenⁱ at the coming up against the land of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, then we said, ‘Come and let us go to Jerusalem before^j the army of the Chaldeans, and before^k the army of the Arameans.’^l That is why we are living in Jerusalem.”

¹²And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,^{m 13}“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Go and say to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Can you not learn a lesson to listen to my words?” declaresⁿ Yahweh. ¹⁴“The words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, that he commanded his descendants^o to not drink, have been carried out, and they have not drunk until this day, for they have obeyed the command of their ancestor.^p But I have spoken to you over and over again,^q and you have not listened to me. ¹⁵And I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, I have sent them over and over again,^r saying,^s ‘Turn back please each one from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and you must not go after other gods to serve them, so that you may live^t on the land that I gave to you and to your ancestors.’^u But you did not incline your ear and you did not listen to me. ¹⁶For the descendants^v of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have carried out the command of their ancestor^w that he commanded them, but this people did not listen to me.”

¹⁷Therefore^x thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, “Look, I am going to bring to Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster that I have spoken against them, because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, and I have called to them and they have not answered.” ’ ” ¹⁸But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have listened to the command of Jonadab your ancestor,^y and you have kept all his commands, and you have done all that he commanded you,’ ¹⁹therefore^z thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘A man will not be cut off for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, to stand before me^a always.’ ”^b

Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll of Jeremiah’s Prophecies

36And then^a in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,^{b 2}“Take for yourself a scroll^c and you must write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day that I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, and until this day. ³Perhaps when the house of Judah hears all the disasters^d that I am planning to do to them, then they may turn back each one from his evil way, and I will forgive their guilt and their sin.”

⁴Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Yahweh that he had spoken to him on a scroll.^{e 5}And Jeremiah instructed Baruch, saying,^f “I am held back, I am not able to enter the temple of Yahweh. ⁶So you must go and you shall read aloud from the scroll that you have written from my mouth the words of Yahweh in the hearing of the people in the temple of Yahweh on a day of fast, and also you shall read aloud in the hearing of all those of Judah who came from their towns. ⁷Perhaps their plea will fall before^g Yahweh and each one will turn away from his evil way, for great is the anger and wrath that Yahweh pronounced against this people.” ⁸And Baruch the son of Neriah did all that Jeremiah the prophet instructed him, to read aloud from the scroll the words of Yahweh in the temple of Yahweh.

⁹And then^h in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the towns of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast beforeⁱ Yahweh. ¹⁰Then Baruch read aloud from the scroll the words of Jeremiah in the temple of Yahweh, in…