This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them:
Parallel translations
- WEB The word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them;
- KJV This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;
- BSB After King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty, the word came to Jeremiah from the LORD
- NASB The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem, to proclaim release to them:
- NLT This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah made a covenant with the people, proclaiming freedom for the slaves.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A word comes to Jeremiah after Zedekiah and the people made a covenant to free their Hebrew slaves. It introduces an account of broken promises.
Overview
Under the pressure of the siege, the king led the people to proclaim liberty for enslaved fellow Israelites, an act of covenant obedience. This sets up a sobering example of repentance that proved short-lived. The episode tests whether the people will truly obey God's law concerning their brothers.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Lev 25:10You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.
- 2 Kgs 23:2–3The king went up to Yahweh’s house, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, with the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in Yahweh’s house.
- 2 Kgs 11:17Jehoiada made a covenant between Yahweh and the king and the people, that they should be Yahweh’s people; also between the king and the people.
- Jer 34:17Therefore Yahweh says: “You have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim to you a liberty,” says Yahweh, “to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. I will make you be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Neh 5:1–13Then there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brothers the Jews.
- Isa 61:1The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound;
- Lev 25:39–46“‘If your brother has grown poor among you, and sells himself to you; you shall not make him to serve as a slave.
- 2 Chr 34:30–33The king went up to Yahweh’s house, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites, and all the people, both great and small; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in Yahweh’s house.
- 2 Chr 15:12–15They entered into the covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul;
- Deut 15:12If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, and serves you six years; then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.
- 2 Chr 29:10Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn away from us.
- Jer 34:14–15At the end of seven years, every man of you shall release his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to you, and has served you six years. You shall let him go free from you; but your fathers didn’t listen to me, and didn’t incline their ear.
- Neh 9:38Yet for all this, we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests, seal it.”
- Exod 23:10–11“For six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in its increase,
- Exod 21:2–4“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything.
- 2 Chr 23:16Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, all the people, and the king, that they should be Yahweh’s people.
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 34:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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