Jeremiah 34:12

"Therefore the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers, in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying, At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother that is a Hebrew, that hath been sold unto thee, and hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me neither inclined their ear. And ye were now turned and had done that which is right in mine eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name; but ye turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had let go free at their pleasure, to return; and ye brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids."

"Proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor" (Jeremiah 34:15). The words here are particularly those used in Leviticus, stressing the existence of all the other books of the Pentateuch in addition to Deuteronomy.

It would be impossible to overestimate the extent of Judah's crime in the event here recorded: (1) It was a violation of God's specific commandment. (2) They had mocked God Himself by that hypocritical "covenant" they cut in the very house that was called by God's name. (3) They profaned the name of God by invoking his holy name upon an action which they had no intention of honoring. (4) It was an inhuman, unfeeling crime against innocent and defenseless people. (5) It was a violation and repudiation of the promises they themselves had made under oath; it was a perfidious perjury. (6) It was a crime against both God and mankind. (7) It was a crime against their wicked state which suffered the punishment their conduct so richly deserved.