Quotes About Freedom

You people of this generation, consider the word of the LORD: “Have I been a wilderness to Israel or a land of dense darkness? Why do My people say, ëWe are free to roam; we will come to You no moreí?

I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”

“This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ëI have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

And I will restore to this place Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, along with all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,í declares the LORD, ëfor I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.í”

And in the presence of all the people Hananiah proclaimed, “This is what the LORD says: ëIn this way, within two years I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon off the neck of all the nations.í” At this, Jeremiah the prophet went on his way.

“Go and tell Hananiah that this is what the LORD says: ëYou have broken a yoke of wood, but in its place you have fashioned a yoke of iron.í

On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will break the yoke off their necks and tear off their bonds, and no longer will strangers enslave them.

For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the hand that had overpowered him.

After King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty, the word came to Jeremiah from the LORD

that each man should free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female, and no one should hold his fellow Jew in bondage.

So all the officials and all the people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their menservants and maidservants and no longer hold them in bondage. They obeyed and released them,

but later they changed their minds and took back the menservants and maidservants they had freed, and they forced them to become slaves again.

“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your forefathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying:

Every seventh year, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must let him go free. But your fathers did not listen or incline their ear.

Recently you repented and did what pleased Me; each of you proclaimed freedom for his neighbor. You made a covenant before Me in the house that bears My Name.

But now you have changed your minds and profaned My name. Each of you has taken back the menservants and maidservants whom you had set at liberty to go wherever they wanted, and you have again forced them to be your slaves.

Therefore this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed Me; you have not proclaimed freedom, each man for his brother and for his neighbor. So now I proclaim freedom for you, declares the LORD—freedom to fall by sword, by plague, and by famine! I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison.

Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you or your servants or these people, that you have put me in prison?

and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

But now, behold, I am freeing you today from the chains that were on your wrists. If it pleases you to come with me to Babylon, then come, and I will take care of you. But if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, go no farther. Look, the whole land is before you. Wherever it seems good and right to you, go there.”

and all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive at Mizpah turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah.

They continue to stumble; indeed, they have fallen over one another. They say, ëGet up! Let us return to our people and to the land of our birth, away from the sword of the oppressor.í

Flee from the midst of Babylon; depart from the land of the Chaldeans; be like the he-goats that lead the flock.