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The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzarking of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion*, and all the people,fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying,
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Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel;Go and speak to Zedekiahking of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:
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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.
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But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the formerkings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ahlord! for I have pronounced the word,saith the LORD.
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When the king of Babylon'sarmyfought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defencedcitiesremained of the cities of Judah.
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This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD,after that the kingZedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaimliberty unto them;
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That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess,gofree; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.
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Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant,heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant,gofree, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go.
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But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let gofree, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.
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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,
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At the end of sevenyears let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee sixyears, thou shalt let him gofree from thee: but your fathershearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
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And ye were nowturned, and had doneright in my sight, in proclaimingliberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenantbefore me in the house which is called by my name:
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But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
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Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaimingliberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed* into all the kingdoms of the earth.
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And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had madebefore me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,
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The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;
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I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.
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And Zedekiahking 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'sarmy, which are gone up from you.
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Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and 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 an inhabitant.