Jeremiah 34:17-19

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¹⁷“So this is what the Lord says: ‘You people have not obeyed me. You have not given freedom to your fellow Hebrews. So, because you have not given them freedom, I will give a special kind of freedom—freedom to die in war or by disease or by hunger! This message is from the Lord. When the other nations see what I have done to you, they will all be shocked. ¹⁸I will hand over those who broke my agreement and have not kept the promises they made before me. They cut a calf into two pieces before me and walked between the two pieces.^[a] ¹⁹These are the people who walked between the two pieces of the calf when they made the agreement before me: the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the important officials of the court, the priests, and the people of the land.

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 34:18 They … two pieces This is part of a ceremony people used when they made an important agreement. An animal was cut into two pieces. Those who were making the agreement would walk between the pieces. Then they would say something like, “May this same thing happen to me if I don’t keep the agreement.” See Gen. 15.