The Skeptics Annotated Bible (599 page)

6 Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.

7 And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.

8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.

9 And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.

10 Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,

11 The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for
the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever
: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.

(33.11)
“The LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.”
120 Is God merciful?

12 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.

13 In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the LORD.

14 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.

15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.

17 For thus saith the LORD;
David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;

(33.17)
“David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel.”
But the Davidic line of Kings ended with Zedekiah; there were none during the Babylonian captivity, and there are none today.

18 Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

19 And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,

20 Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;

21 Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.

22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.

23 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

24 Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

25 Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;

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

34
The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying,

2 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:

3 And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and
thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon
, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.

(34.3)
“Thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon.”
256 Did Zedekiah see the king of Babylon?

4 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O
Zedekiah
king of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of thee,
Thou shalt not die by the sword:

5
But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee
, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD.

(34.4-5)
“Zedekiah … thou shalt not die by the sword: But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee.”
God tells Zedekiah that he will die in peace and be buried with his fathers. But later (2 Kg 25.7 and Jer 39.6-9, 52.10-11) he dies a violent death in a foreign land.

6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,

7 When the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.

(34.8-16) For some strange reason, God tells the people to do something good: free their slaves. And the people do that, for a while, anyway. But then they enslaved them again.

8 This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to
proclaim liberty unto them
;

9
That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free
; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.

(34.8-9)
“Proclaim liberty unto them; That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free.”
(Too bad about the “being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess” part.)

10
Now when
all the princes, and all
the people
, which had entered into the covenant,
heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free
, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then
they obeyed, and let them go
.

(34.10)
“Now when … the people … heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free … they obeyed, and let them go.”

11
But afterward 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.

(34.11)
“But afterward 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 the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

13 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,

14 At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.

15 And
ye
were now turned, and
had done right
in my sight
, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour
; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:

(34.15)
“Ye … had done right … in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour.”

16
But ye
turned and polluted my name, and
caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids
.

(34.16)
“But ye … caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.”

(34.17-20) To punish the people for refusing to free their slaves, God over-reacts (just a tad) by threatening to send the sword, pestilence, and famine, saying he’ll feed their dead bodies to the fowls and beasts of the earth.