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Jeremiah 34 · Grade 5

Covenant Breakers

Name Date

Read and Think

Jeremiah 34 contains two scenes from the siege of Jerusalem. First, God told Zedekiah that the city would be burned and that he would face the king of Babylon eye to eye. Yet God also said he would not die by the sword but would die in peace. The second scene exposes the moral state of the city through a test of obedience about slavery.

The law of Moses required that a Hebrew servant be released after six years of service (Exodus 21, Deuteronomy 15). Israel had ignored this. Under siege, Zedekiah led a covenant to proclaim liberty, and everyone released their Hebrew servants. God approved. You had now turned, and had done that which is right in my eyes. The covenant was sealed in the temple by passing between the halves of a calf, a ritual that invited the same fate on anyone who broke it.

When the Babylonian siege lifted briefly, the people reversed course and reenslaved their servants. God responded with biting irony. You have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty. Behold, I proclaim to you a liberty, says Yahweh, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. The army would return. The chapter shows that obedience out of fear is not true repentance, and that how people treat the vulnerable reveals their heart toward God.

Show What You Know

  1. What two things did God tell Zedekiah?

  2. Where does the law of releasing servants come from?

  3. What did passing between the halves of a calf mean?

  4. What does the chapter show about obedience out of fear?

Crossword

54132

Across

  1. You shall let him go ____ from you.
  2. In every man proclaiming ____ to his neighbor.

Down

  1. To be to you for ____ and for handmaids.
  2. I ____ to you a liberty.
  3. I will give the men who have transgressed my ____.

Think About It

  1. How does treating vulnerable people reveal a person's heart toward God?

  2. Why is it serious to make a promise in God's name and break it?

Memory Verse

“At the end of seven years, every man of you shall release his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to you, and has served you six years. You shall let him go free from you. But your fathers didn’t listen to me, and didn’t incline their ear.”

Jeremiah 34:14 (WEB)

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Prayer

Dear God, thank You for keeping Your promises. Help me . Amen.

Take It Home

For families: talk about these together.

  • Is obeying out of fear the same as repenting?
  • What promise can you keep this week?
  • What is one way you could live out this chapter this week?

Scripture: World English Bible, public domain, eBible.org. © 2026 The Daily Rooted. Free to print and copy for church and home use; not for resale. Original line art.