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Zedekiah’s Covenant Concerning Slaves

The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after king Zedekiah made[a] a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim release to them, to let go each one his male slave and each one his female slave, the Hebrew and the free Hebrew, so that no one among the Judeans[b] should enslave his fellow countryman. 10 And all the officials and all the people obeyed, who had entered into the covenant to let go each one his male slave and each one his female slave, not enslaving them again, and they obeyed and they let them[c] go.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 34:8 Literally “cut”
  2. Jeremiah 34:9 Hebrew “Judean”
  3. Jeremiah 34:10 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation

Freedom for Slaves

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. 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.

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