Jeremiah 21

Jeremiah’s Message for Zedekiah

1The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when 1King Zedekiah sent to him 2Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and 3Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, 2“Please 4inquire of the Lord on our behalf, for 5Nebuchadnezzar king of 6Babylon is warring against us; perhaps the Lord will deal with us 7according to all His 8wonderful acts, so that the enemy will withdraw from us.”

3Then Jeremiah said to them, “You shall say to Zedekiah as follows: 4‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to 9turn back the weapons of war which are in your hands, with which you are warring against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall; and I will 10gather them into the center of this city. 5I 11Myself will war against you with an 12outstretched hand and a mighty arm, even in 13anger and wrath and great indignation. 6I will also strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great 14pestilence. 7Then afterwards,” declares the Lord, “15I will give over Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people, even those who survive in this city from the pestilence, the sword and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their foes and into the hand of those who seek their lives; and he will strike them down with the edge of the sword. He 16will not spare them nor have pity nor compassion.”’

8“You shall also say to this people, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I 17set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9He who 18dwells in this city will die by the 19sword and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as booty. 10For I have 20set My face against this city for 21harm and not for good,” declares the Lord. “It will be 22given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will 23burn it with fire.”’

11“Then say to the household of the 24king of Judah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, 12O 25house of David, thus says the Lord: “26Administer justice 27every 28morning; And deliver the person who has been robbed from the 29power of his oppressor, 30That My wrath may not go forth like fire And 31burn with none to extinguish it, Because of the evil of their deeds.

13“Behold, 32I am against you, O 33valley dweller, O 34rocky plain,” declares the Lord, “You men who say, ‘35Who will come down against us? Or who will enter into our habitations?’14But I will punish you 36according to the 37results of your deeds,” declares the Lord, “And I will 38kindle a fire in its forest That it may devour all its environs.”’”