Giê-rê-mi 21

Zedekiah sends to Jeremiah

¹This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD at the time King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, to him with this request: ²“Please seek the LORD on our behalf, because Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon is at war with us. Perhaps the LORD will do for us one of his wonders, as in all the wonders of the past, so that the king will lift the siege and leave us.”

³Jeremiah answered them, “Tell Zedekiah this: ⁴‘The LORD, the God of Israel, says this: I am about to turn back the weapons of war in your hands, the weapons you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you from outside the wall. I will gather them into the heart of this city.^{a 5}I myself will fight against you with my hand stretched out and with my strong arm, in anger, in fury and in great rage. ⁶I will strike down those who live in this city, people and animals alike; they will die of a terrible plague. ⁷Afterward, declares the LORD, I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials and the people, all in this city who survive the plague, the sword and the famine, to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, to their enemies, to those who want them dead. He will put them to the sword; he will show them no pity, no mercy and no compassion.’” ⁸“And say to this people, ‘The LORD says this: Look, I am putting in front of you the way that leads to life and the way that leads to death. ⁹Those who stay in this city will die by sword, famine and plague. But those who go out and surrender to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live; they will come away with their lives as their only plunder.^{b 10}For I have set my face against this city for disaster and not for good, declares the LORD. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down.’”

To the royal house of Judah

¹¹To the royal house of Judah: \q Hear the word of the LORD. ¹²House of David, the LORD says this: \q Give fair judgment every morning, \q and rescue the one who has been robbed from the power of the oppressor. \q Otherwise my fury will break out like fire and burn with no one to put it out, \q because of your evil deeds. ¹³Look, I am against you, you who sit above the valley, rock on the plain, declares the LORD, \q you who say, “Who can come down on us? \q Who can break into our homes?”^{c 14}I will punish you as your actions have earned, declares the LORD. \q I will set fire to her forest, \q and it will consume everything around her.^d