Jeremiah 34:13-14

34:13 “The Lord God of Israel has a message for you. ¹  ‘I made a covenant with your ancestors ²  when I brought them out of Egypt where they had been slaves. ³  It stipulated, ⁴  34:14 “Every seven years each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you for six years, you shall set them free.” ⁵  But your ancestors did not obey me or pay any attention to me.

[34:13]  ¹ tn Heb “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘…’” The style adopted here has been used to avoid a longer, more complex English sentence.

[34:13]  ² tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 14, 15).

[34:13]  ³ tn Heb “out of the house of bondage.”

[34:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “made a covenant, saying.” This was only one of several stipulations of the covenant. The form used here has been chosen as an indirect way of relating the specific stipulation that is being focused upon to the general covenant that is referred to in v. 13.

[34:14]  ⁵ sn Compare Deut 15:12-18 for the complete statement of this law. Here only the first part of it is cited.