Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 282
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IMMERSE
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PROPHETS
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then abandoned them!’ They are sneering and saying that Israel is not
worthy to be counted as a nation. But this is what the Lord says: I would
no more reject my people than I would change my laws that govern night
and day, earth and sky. I will never abandon the descendants of Jacob or
David, my servant, or change the plan that David’s descendants will rule
the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, I will restore them
to their land and have mercy on them.”
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with all the armies from the king
doms he ruled, and he fought against Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. At
that time this message came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go to King Zed
ekiah of Judah, and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:
I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn
it down. You will not escape his grasp but will be captured and taken to
meet the king of Babylon face to face. Then you will be exiled to Babylon.
“‘But listen to this promise from the Lord, O Zedek iah, king of Judah.
This is what the Lord says: You will not be killed in war but will die peace
fully. People will burn incense in your memory, just as they did for your
ancestors, the kings who preceded you. They will mourn for you, crying,
“Alas, our master is dead!” This I have decreed, says the Lord.’”
So Jeremiah the prophet delivered the message to King Zedekiah of Ju
dah. At this time the Babylonian army was besieging Jerusalem, Lachish,
and Azekah—the only fortified cities of Judah not yet captured.
This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah made
a covenant with the people, proclaiming freedom for the slaves. He had
ordered all the people to free their Hebrew slaves—both men and women.
No one was to keep a fellow Judean in bondage. The officials and all the
people had obeyed the king’s command, but later they changed their
minds. They took back the men and women they had freed, forcing them
to be slaves again.
So the Lord gave them this message through Jeremiah: “This is what
the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestors
long ago when I rescued them from their slavery in Egypt. I told them that
every Hebrew slave must be freed after serving six years. But your ances
tors paid no attention to me. Recently you repented and did what was
right, following my command. You freed your slaves and made a solemn
covenant with me in the Temple that bears my name. But now you have
