1. The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, (when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the peoples, fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities thereof) saying,
2. Thus hath the Lord God of Israel said: Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus hath the Lord said: Behold, I give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:
3. and thou shalt not escape out of his hand but shalt surely be taken and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
4. Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus hath the Lord said of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword:
5. but thou shalt die in peace: and according to the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, said the Lord.
6. Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem
7. when 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 of the strong cities of Judah these had remained.
8. This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the Lord after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;
9. that every man should let his manslave, and every man his maidslave, being a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that no one should use of his brethren, the Jews, as a slave.
10. Now when all the princes and all the people, who had entered into the covenant, heard that each one should let his manslave and each one his maidslave go free, that no one should use them any more as servants, then they listened and let them go.
11. But afterward they repented and caused the slaves and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return and brought them into subjection for slaves and for handmaids.
12. Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
13. Thus saith the Lord 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 slavery, saying,