8. The word that came to Jeremiah from  יהוה , after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them;

9. That every man should let his male servant, and every man his female servant, who is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that no one should make bondservants of them, of a Jew his brother.

10. All the princes and all the people obeyed, who had entered into the covenant, that everyone should let his male servant, and everyone his female servant, go free, that no one should make bondservants of them any more; they obeyed, and let them go:

11. But afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.

12. Therefore  יהוה ’s word came to Jeremiah from  יהוה , saying,

13.  יהוה , the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,

14. At the end of seven years you shall let go every man his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to you, and has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you: but your fathers didn’t listen to me, neither inclined their ear.

15. You had now turned, and had done that which is right in my eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and you had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:

16. But you turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom you had let go free at their pleasure, to return; and you brought them into subjection, to be to you for servants and for handmaids.

17. Therefore  יהוה says: you have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim to you a liberty, says  יהוה , to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.

18. I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts;

19. The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf;

20. I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth.

21. Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, who have gone away from you.

22. Behold, I will command, says  יהוה , and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.

Chapter 33

25.  יהוה says: If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;

26. Then I will also cast away the offspring[a] of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his offspring[b] to be rulers over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and will have mercy on them.

ETZ CHAIM

It is a tree of life for those who cling to it, and those who uphold it are happy.  Its ways are pleasant, and all of its paths peaceful.

Return us to you, Lord, so that we shall return, renew our days as of old.