⁸ The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah ^(A)had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem ^(B)to make a proclamation of liberty to them, ^9 (C)that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, ^(D)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 ^(E)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 ^(F)I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, ^14 (G)‘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; ^(H)you must set him free from your service.’ But ^(I)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 ^(J)by proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, and ^(K)you made a covenant before me in the ^(L)house that is called by my name, ¹⁶ but then you turned around ^(M)and profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves, ^(N)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 ^(O)by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; ^(P)behold, I proclaim to you liberty ^(Q)to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the Lord. ^(R)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 ^(S)the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like^{[a] (T)}the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts— ¹⁹ the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, ^(U)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 ^(V)and into the hand of those who seek their lives. ^(W)Their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. ²¹ And ^(X)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 ^(Y)which has withdrawn from you. ²² Behold, ^(Z)I will command, declares the Lord, and will ^(AA)bring them back to this city. ^(AB)And they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. ^(AC)I will make the cities of Judah a desolation ^(AD)without inhabitant.”

²⁵ Thus says the Lord: ^(A)If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, ²⁶ then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ^(B)For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”