Jeremiah 34:8 Cross References

Jeremiah 34:8

8: This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah made a covenant with the people, proclaiming freedom for the slaves.

This year will be set apart as holy, a time to proclaim release for all who live there. It will be a jubilee year for you, when each of you returns to the lands that belonged to your ancestors and rejoins your clan.

And the king went up to the Temple of the LORD with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, and the priests, and the prophets--all the people from the least to the greatest. There the king read to them the entire Book of the Covenant that had been found in the LORD's Temple.
The king took his place of authority beside the pillar and renewed the covenant in the LORD's presence. He pledged to obey the LORD by keeping all his commands, regulations, and laws with all his heart and soul. In this way, he confirmed all the terms of the covenant that were written in the scroll, and all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people that they would be the LORD's people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people.

"Therefore, this is what the LORD says: Since you have not obeyed me by setting your countrymen free, I will set you free to be destroyed by war, famine, and disease. You will be considered a disgrace by all the nations of the earth.

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, because the LORD has appointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to announce that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.

"If any of your Israelite relatives go bankrupt and sell themselves to you, do not treat them as slaves.
Treat them instead as hired servants or as resident foreigners who live with you, and they will serve you only until the Year of Jubilee.
At that time they and their children will no longer be obligated to you, and they will return to their clan and ancestral property.
The people of Israel are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, so they must never be sold as slaves.
Show your fear of God by treating them well; never exercise your power over them in a ruthless way.

About this time some of the men and their wives raised a cry of protest against their fellow Jews.
They were saying, "We have such large families. We need more money just so we can buy the food we need to survive."
Others said, "We have mortgaged our fields, vineyards, and homes to get food during the famine."
And others said, "We have already borrowed to the limit on our fields and vineyards to pay our taxes.
We belong to the same family, and our children are just like theirs. Yet we must sell our children into slavery just to get enough money to live. We have already sold some of our daughters, and we are helpless to do anything about it, for our fields and vineyards are already mortgaged to others."

"Yet in spite of all this, we are making a solemn promise and putting it in writing. On this sealed document are the names of our princes and Levites and priests."
The document was ratified and sealed with the following names: Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah. The priests who signed were Zedekiah,
Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,
Pashhur, Amariah, Malkijah,
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,

And the king went up to the Temple of the LORD with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites--all the people from the greatest to the least. There the king read to them the entire Book of the Covenant that had been found in the LORD's Temple.
The king took his place of authority beside the pillar and renewed the covenant in the LORD's presence. He pledged to obey the LORD by keeping all his commands, regulations, and laws with all his heart and soul. He promised to obey all the terms of the covenant that were written in the scroll.
And he required everyone in Jerusalem and the people of Benjamin to make a similar pledge. As the people of Jerusalem did this, they renewed their covenant with God, the God of their ancestors.
So Josiah removed all detestable idols from the entire land of Israel and required everyone to worship the LORD their God. And throughout the rest of his lifetime, they did not turn away from the LORD, the God of their ancestors.

But now I will make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us.

I told them that every Hebrew slave must be freed after serving six years. But this was never done.
Recently you repented and did what was right, following my command. You freed your slaves and made a solemn covenant with me in my Temple.

"Plant and harvest your crops for six years,
but let the land rest and lie fallow during the seventh year. Then let the poor among you harvest any volunteer crop that may come up. Leave the rest for the animals to eat. The same applies to your vineyards and olive groves.

"If you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for only six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom.
If he was single when he became your slave and then married afterward, only he will go free in the seventh year. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife will be freed with him.
"If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave, and they had sons or daughters, then the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master.

"If an Israelite man or woman voluntarily becomes your servant and serves you for six years, in the seventh year you must set that servant free.

Then they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul.
They agreed that anyone who refused to seek the LORD, the God of Israel, would be put to death--whether young or old, man or woman.
They shouted out their oath of loyalty to the LORD with trumpets blaring and horns sounding.
All were happy about this covenant, for they had entered into it with all their hearts. Eagerly they sought after God, and they found him. And the LORD gave them rest from their enemies on every side.

Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and the king and the people that they would be the LORD's people.

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