¹⁸ But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath^(A) to them by the Lord, the God of Israel.

The whole assembly grumbled^(B) against the leaders, ¹⁹ but all the leaders answered, “We have given them our oath by the Lord, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now. ²⁰ This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that God’s wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath^(C) we swore to them.”

Freedom for Slaves

⁸ The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people^(A) in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom^(B) for the slaves. ⁹ Everyone was to free their Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Hebrew in bondage.^{(C) 10} So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their male and female slaves and no longer hold them in bondage. They agreed, and set them free. ¹¹ But afterward they changed their minds^(D) and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again.

¹² Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ¹³ “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestors^(E) when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.^(F) I said, ¹⁴ ‘Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you six years, you must let them go free.’^[a](G) Your ancestors, however, did not listen to me or pay attention^(H) to me. ¹⁵ Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight: Each of you proclaimed freedom to your own people.^(I) You even made a covenant before me in the house that bears my Name.^{(J) 16} But now you have turned around^(K) and profaned^(L) my name; each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished. You have forced them to become your slaves again.

¹⁷ “Therefore this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom to your own people. So I now proclaim ‘freedom’ for you,^(M) declares the Lord—‘freedom’ to fall by the sword, plague^(N) and famine.^(O) I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth.^{(P) 18} Those who have violated my covenant^(Q) and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces.^{(R) 19} The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials,^(S) the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf, ²⁰ I will deliver^(T) into the hands of their enemies who want to kill them.^(U) Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.^(V)

²¹ “I will deliver Zedekiah^(W) king of Judah and his officials^(X) into the hands of their enemies^(Y) who want to kill them, to the army of the king of Babylon,^(Z) which has withdrawn^(AA) from you.

¹⁴ so that the kingdom would be brought low,^(A) unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty. ¹⁵ But the king rebelled^(B) against him by sending his envoys to Egypt^(C) to get horses and a large army.^(D) Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the treaty and yet escape?^(E)

¹⁶ “‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, he shall die^(F) in Babylon, in the land of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose treaty he broke.^{(G) 17} Pharaoh^(H) with his mighty army and great horde will be of no help to him in war, when ramps^(I) are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives.^{(J) 18} He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Because he had given his hand in pledge^(K) and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.

The Law and the Promise

¹⁵ Brothers and sisters,^(A) let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case.