3
And 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}, and {you will speak face to face with him}, and [to] Babylon you will go.'
4
However, hear the word of Yahweh, [O] Zedekiah, the king of Judah. Thus says Yahweh concerning you: 'You will not die by the sword.
5
In peace you will die, and as [there was] burning for your ancestors, the former kings who were {before you}, so they will burn for you, and they will lament for you, "Alas, lord!" For [the] word I have spoken,' {declares} Yahweh." '"
6
Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Zedekiah the king of Judah all these words in Jerusalem
7
when 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
8 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after king Zedekiah {made} a covenant with all the people who [were] in Jerusalem to proclaim release to them,
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to 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 [should] enslave his fellow countryman.
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And 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 [them] go.
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But {afterward} 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.
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And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, {saying},
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"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},