September 15, 2026, Jeremiah 34:1-22
September 15, 2026, Jeremiah 34:1-22
34 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms of the earth under his
dominion and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all of its
cities: 2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Go and speak
to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am giving this city
into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. 3 You
shall not escape from his hand but shall surely be captured and delivered into
his hand. You shall see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him
face to face. And you shall go to Babylon.’ 4 Yet
hear the word of the Lord, O
Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the Lord concerning
you: ‘You shall not die by the sword. 5 You shall
die in peace. And as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings
who were before you, so people shall burn spices for you and lament
for you, saying, “Alas, lord!”’ For I have spoken the word, declares the Lord.”
6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah
king of Judah, in Jerusalem, 7 when the army of the
king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of
Judah that were left, Lachish and Azekah, for these were the
only fortified cities of Judah that remained.
8 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made
a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a proclamation of
liberty to them, 9 that everyone should set free
his Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should enslave a Jew,
his brother. 10 And they obeyed, all the officials
and all the people who had entered into the covenant that everyone would set
free his slave, male or female, so that they would not be enslaved again. They
obeyed and set them free. 11 But afterward they
turned around and took back the male and female slaves they had set free,
and brought them into subjection as slaves. 12 The
word of the Lord came to
Jeremiah from the Lord: 13 “Thus
says the Lord, the God of
Israel: I myself made a covenant with your fathers when I brought them out
of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, 14 ‘At
the end of seven years each of you must set free the fellow Hebrew who has been
sold to you and has served you six years; you must set him free from your
service.’ But your fathers did not listen to me or incline their ears to
me. 15 You recently repented and did what was right
in my eyes by proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, and you made
a covenant before me in the house that is called by my name, 16 but
then you turned around and profaned my name when each of you took back his
male and female slaves, whom you had set free according to their desire,
and you brought them into subjection to be your slaves.
17 “Therefore, thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me by proclaiming liberty,
every one to his brother and to his neighbor; behold, I proclaim to you
liberty to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the Lord. I will make you a horror to
all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 And the men who
transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that
they made before me, I will make them like[a] the calf that they
cut in two and passed between its parts— 19 the
officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests,
and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. 20 And
I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those
who seek their lives. Their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the
air and the beasts of the earth. 21 And Zedekiah
king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and
into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of the army of the
king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you. 22 Behold, I
will command, declares the Lord,
and will bring them back to this city. And they will fight against it
and take it and burn it with fire. I will make the cities of Judah a
desolation without inhabitant.”
We see
discipline from God when His children go their own way, but more often we see
mercy from God, even for those who deserve His judgment. When have you deserved judgment, yet God have
you mercy?
Have you
ever been tempted to do something good just to get God’s attention and
love? He loves us as we are, and He has
already done the best thing for us by giving us His Son to take on our
sins. Why is it we think we can “outdo”
God to win His love? We already have
more love than we understand.
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