of Israel, Behold, I will turn aside the weapons of war, which are in your hand, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, that besiege you from without the wall, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city. And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand, and with a strong arm, and with anger, and with fury, and with great 6 wrath. And I will smite the inhabitants of

this city, both man and beast; of a great pesti7 lence shall they die. And after this, saith JEHO

VAH, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, even those that are left in this city, from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life; and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall have no pity on them, neither shall he spare, neither shall he shew mercy.

And unto this people shalt thou say, Thus saith JEHOVAH, Behold I set before you the way 9 of life, and the way of death. He that abideth in this city shall die by sword, and by famine, and by pestilence; but he that goeth out, and surrendereth himself to the Chaldeans that lay siege round about you, he shall even live, and 10 his life shall be unto him as spoil. For I have set my face against this city in an evil, and not in a friendly manner, saith JEHOVAH; into the hand of the king of Babylon shall it be delivered, and he shall burn it with fire.

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And with regard to the house of the king of Ju

12 dah, hear ye the word of JEHOVAH. O house of David, thus saith JEHOVAH, Judge ye, searching out right, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and it be kindled, and there be none to 13 quench, because of the evit of your doings. Behold, I am against thee, O thou inhabitant of the levelled hollow of a rock, saith JEHOVAH; ye who say, Who shall make a breach upon us? Or 14 who shall enter into our habitations? And I will punish you according to the fruit of your machinations, saith JEHOVAH; and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall consume all around it.

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CHAP. XXXIV.

THE WORD WHIGH CAME UNTO JEREMIAH FROM JEHOVAH, WHEN NEBUCHADNEZZAR KING OF BABYLon, and ALL HIS ARMY, AND ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE EARTH THAT WERE UNDER HIS DOMINION, AND ALL THE PEOPLES, MADE WAR AGainst JerusalEM, AND AGAINST ALL THE CITIES THEREOF, SAYING,

THUS saith JEHOVAH the God of Israel, Go and speak to Zedekiah, and thou shalt say unto him, Thus saith JEHOVAH, Behold I am about to deliver this city into the hand of the king of Ba3 bylon, and he shall burn it with fire. And thou

shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and into his hand shalt thou be deliv ered; 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 Nevertheless hear the word of JEHOVAH, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus hath JEHOVAH Spoken concerning thee, Thou shalt not die by the

5 sword. In peace shalt thou die, and according to the burnings of thine ancestors, the former kings that were before thee, so shall they burn for thee; and they shall lament for thee, [saying] Ah lord! for I have spoken the word, saith JEHO6. VAH. And Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Zedekiah king of Judah all these words in Jeru7 salem, when the forces of the king of Babylon were making war against Jerusalem, and against all the cites of Judah that remained, against Lachish, and against Azekah; for these remained of the cities of Judah, fortified cities.

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THE WORD WHICH CAME TO JEREMIAH FROM JEhovah,
AFTER THAT KING Zedekiah HAD ENTERED INTO COVE-
NANT WITH ALL THE PEOPLE THAT WERE IN Jerusalem,

TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY UNTO THEM: THAT EVERY ONE
SHOULD LET HIS BONDMAN, AND EVERY ONE HIS BOND-
WOMAN, THAT WAS A HEBREW MAN, OR HEBREW WOMAN,
GO FREE, AND NOT EXACT SERVICE OF THEM, EVERY ONE
OF A JEW HIS BROTHER.

And all the princes hearkened, and all the people who entered into covenant to let every one his bondman, and every one his bondwoman, go free, and not to exact service of them any more, 11 they hearkened, I say, and let them go. But they returned afterwards, and took back the bondmen and the bond women, whom they had let go free and compelled them to serve as bondmen and bond women. Then came the word of JEHOVAH to Jeremiah from JEHOVAH, say13 ing, Thus saith JEHOVAH the God of Israel, I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of E14 gypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying, At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man

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his brother, an Hebrew, who shall have been sold unto thee; when he shall have served thee six years, then thou shalt let him go free from thee. But But your fathers hearkened not unto me, 15 nor inclined their ear. And when ye had turned at this time, and had done what was right in mine eyes, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his neighbour, and had entered into a covenant before me in the house which is called by my 16 name: then ye returned, and profaned my name, and took back every man his bondman and every one his bondwoman, whom ye had let go free to follow their own inclinations; and ye compelled them to be bondmen and bond women unto you. 17 Therefore thus saith JEHOVAH, Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty every one to his brother, and every one to his neighbour; behold, I proclaim liberty in regard to you, saith JEHOVAH, unto the sword, and to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will give you up to vexation 18 in all kingdoms of the earth. And I will give

the men that have transgressed my covenant, who have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant which they made in presence of the calf, which they cut in twain, and passed between the parts 19 thereof; the princes of Judah, and the princes of

Jerusalem, and the eunuchs, and the priests and all the people of the land, that passed between the parts of the calf; I will even 20 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 heavens, and to the beasts of 21 the earth. And Zedekiah king of Judah, and

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his princes, will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, even into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you. Behold, I will give the command, saith JEHOVAH, and will cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire; and the cities of Judah will I make a desolation without an inhabitant.

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Now king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in 2 the land of Judah. But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, regarded the words of JEHOVAH, which he spake by the 3 phet Jeremiah. And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Pray now to JEHOVAH our God for us. For Jeremiah came in and went out among the people, and they had not cast him into prison. 5 Also Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt, and the Chaldeans who laid siege to Jerusalem, when they heard the report of them, marched off from before Jerusalem.

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Then came the word of JEHOVAH unto Jeremi7 ah the prophet, saying, Thus saith JEHOVAH the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah that sent you to me, to seek me; Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to your assistance, shall return to their own land, to Egypt. 3 And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight