Jeremiah 34:17-22

17 "Therefore thus says the LORD, 'You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming release each man to his brother and each man to his neighbor. Behold, I am ¹proclaiming a release to you,' declares the LORD, 'to the ²sword, to the pestilence and to the famine; and I will make you a ³terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

18 'I will give the men who have ⁴transgressed My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they ⁵cut the calf in two and passed between its parts -

19 the ⁶officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the court officers and the priests and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf -

20 I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who ⁷seek their life. And their ⁸dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.

21 '⁹Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has ¹⁰gone away from you.

22 'Behold, I am going to command,' declares the LORD, 'and I will bring them back to this city; and they will fight against it and ¹¹take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a ¹²desolation ¹³without inhabitant.' "

Jeremiah 34:17-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 34

In this chapter is a prophecy of the taking and burning of Jerusalem; of the captivity of Zedekiah king of Judah; and of the destruction of the whole land, because of their breach of covenant to let servants go free. The time of this prophecy is observed, Jer 34:1,6,7; the taking and burning of the city, Jer 34:2; the carrying captive the king, who yet should not die a violent death, but in peace, and should have an honourable funeral, Jer 34:3-5; the covenant the king, princes, and people entered into, to let their servants go free, according to the law of God, which was at first observed, and afterwards retracted, Jer 34:8-11; which conduct is taken notice of and resented, Jer 34:13-16; and they are threatened with the sore judgments of God, sword, famine, pestilence, and captivity, the king, princes, priests, and people; and with the destruction, not on of Jerusalem, but of the rest of the cities of Judah, Jer 34:17-22.

Cross References

• 1. Leviticus 26:34, 35; Esther 7:10; Daniel 6:24; Matthew 7:2
• 2. Jeremiah 32:24; Jeremiah 38:2
• 3. Deuteronomy 28:25; Jeremiah 29:18
• 4. Deuteronomy 17:2; Hosea 6:7; Hosea 8:1; Romans 2:8
• 5. Genesis 15:10
• 6. Jeremiah 34:10; Ezekiel 22:27; Zephaniah 3:3, 4
• 7. Jeremiah 11:21; Jeremiah 21:7; Jeremiah 22:25
• 8. Deuteronomy 28:26; 1 Samuel 17:44, 46; 1 Kings 14:11; Jeremiah 16:4">Jeremiah 16:4; Psalms 79:2; Jeremiah 7:33; Jeremiah 16:4">Jeremiah 16:4; Jeremiah 19:7
• 9. 2 Kings 25:18-21; Jeremiah 32:3, 4; Jeremiah 39:6; Jeremiah 52:10, 24-27; Ezekiel 17:16
• 10. Jeremiah 37:5-11
• 11. Jeremiah 34:2; Jeremiah 39:1, 2, 8; Jeremiah 52:7, 13
• 12. Jeremiah 4:7; Jeremiah 9:11
• 13. Jeremiah 33:10; Jeremiah 44:22

Footnotes

• [a] Or "liberty"
• [b] Or "liberty"