Jeremiah 34:8-17 ▼

8 The word that has been to Jeremiah from YHWH, after the making of a covenant by King Zedekiah with all the people who [are] in Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them,

9 to each send out his manservant, and each his maidservant—the Hebrew and the Hebrewess—free, so as not to lay service on them—on any Jew, a brother, a man;

10 and all the heads listen, and all the people who have come into the covenant to each send forth his manservant and each his maidservant free, so as not to lay service on them anymore, indeed, they listen, and send them away;

11 and they turn afterward, and cause the menservants and the maidservants to return, whom they had sent forth free, and they subdue them for menservants and for maidservants.

12 And there is a word of YHWH to Jeremiah from YHWH, saying,

13 “Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day of My bringing them forth from the land of Egypt, from a house of servants, saying,

14 At the end of seven years you each send forth his brother, the Hebrew, who is sold to you, and has served you six years, indeed, you have sent him forth from you free: and your fathers did not listen to Me, nor inclined their ear.

15 And today you turn back and you do that which is right in My eyes, to each proclaim liberty to his neighbor, and you make a covenant before Me in the house over which My Name is called.

16 And you turn back, and defile My Name, and you each cause his manservant and each his maidservant, whom he had sent forth free (at their pleasure), to return, and you subdue them to be for menservants and for maidservants to you.”

17 Therefore, thus said YHWH: “You have not listened to Me to proclaim freedom, each to his brother, and each to his neighbor; behold, I am proclaiming to you liberty,” a declaration of YHWH, “to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine, and I have given you for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth.