These people made the agreement before me by walking between the pieces of the calf: the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the officers of the court, the priests, and all the people of the land.
Jehoiachin king of Judah surrendered to the king of Babylon, along with Jehoiachin’s mother, servants, nobles, and officers. So Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin a prisoner in the eighth year he was king of Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, as well as the king’s mother and his wives, the officers, and the leading men of the land. They were taken captive from Jerusalem to Babylon.
(This letter was sent after all these people were taken away: Jehoiachin the king and the queen mother; the officers and leaders of Judah and Jerusalem; and the craftsmen and metalworkers from Jerusalem.)
All the officers and all the people accepted this agreement; they agreed to free their male and female slaves and no longer keep them as slaves. So all the slaves were set free.
But Ebed-Melech, a Cushite and a servant in the palace, heard that the officers had put Jeremiah into the well. As King Zedekiah was sitting at the Benjamin Gate,
“You said these things would happen to us and our leaders, and you made them happen; you brought on us a great disaster. Nothing has ever been done on earth like what was done to Jerusalem.