Jeremiah 21
1 Yahweh gave me another message when King Zedekiah [of Judah] sent [a man who was also named] Pashhur, the son of Malkijah, and a priest named Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, [to talk to me. They pleaded with me], saying,
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur, the son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
2 “[The army of] King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is attacking Judah. Please speak to Yahweh for us. [Ask him if he will help us]. Perhaps he will force Nebuchadnezzar’s [army] to leave by performing a miracle for us, like the miracles he performed [previously].”
Will you get directions from the Lord for us; for Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, is making war against us; it may be that the Lord will do something for us like all the wonders he has done, and make him go away from us.
3 I replied to them, “[Go back to King] Zedekiah. Tell him,
Then Jeremiah said to them, This is what you are to say to Zedekiah:
4 ‘This is what Yahweh, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], says: “I will cause your weapons to be useless in fighting against the king of Babylon and his army that is outside the walls of Jerusalem, attacking. I will enable them to enter into the center of this city.
The Lord God of Israel has said, See, I am turning back the instruments of war in your hands, with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and the Chaldaeans, who are outside the walls and shutting you in; and I will get them together inside this town.
5 I myself will fight against your [army] with my very great power, [MTY, DOU] because I am very angry with you.
And I myself will be fighting against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even with angry feeling and passion and in great wrath.
6 I will send a very (terrible plague/big sickness) on the people of this city, and on their domestic animals, and [many of] them will die.”
And I will send a great disease on the people living in this town, on man and on beast, causing their death.
7 And Yahweh says there are many people in this city who want to kill you. So, he will enable [the army of] King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and other people in this city to capture [you], King Zedekiah, and your officials, and [all the other] people who do not die from the plague. His army will slaughter your soldiers; they will not act mercifully toward you(pl) or pity you at all. [DOU]’
And after that, says the Lord, I will give up Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his servants and his people, even those in the town who have not come to their end from the disease and the sword and from need of food, into the hands of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hands of their haters, and into the hands of those desiring their death: he will put them to the sword; he will not let anyone get away, he will have no pity or mercy.
8 And tell this to [all] the people: ‘Yahweh says that you must decide whether you want to die or to remain alive.
And to this people you are to say, The Lord has said, See, I put before you the way of life and the way of death.
9 Everyone who remains in Jerusalem will die. They will be killed in battles or die from being hungry or from diseases. But those who surrender to the army of Babylon that is surrounding your city will remain alive. They will escape dying.
He who keeps in this town will come to his death by the sword and through need of food and through disease; but he who goes out and gives himself up to the Chaldaeans who are shutting you in, will go on living, and will keep his life safe.
10 [That will happen] because I, Yahweh, have decided to cause this city to experience disasters, not to experience something good. The army of the king of Babylon will capture this city and will destroy it [completely] by fire.’”
For my face is turned to this town for evil and not for good, says the Lord: it will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will have it burned with fire.
11 [Yahweh also told me to] say this to the family of the king of Judah: “Listen to this message from Yahweh!
About the family of the king of Judah. Give ear to the word of the Lord;
12 This is what he says to you descendants of King David: ‘Every day, make fair decisions for the people whom you judge. Help those who have been robbed. Rescue/Save them from those [SYN] who (oppress them/treat them cruelly). If you do not do that, I will be angry and punish [MTY] you with a fire that will be impossible to extinguish, because of [all] the sins that you have committed.
O family of David, this is what the Lord has said: Do what is right in the morning, and make free from the hands of the cruel one him whose goods have been violently taken away, or my wrath will go out like fire, burning so that no one may put it out, because of the evil of your doings.
13 I will fight against you people [of Jerusalem], you who live on top of a rocky hill above the valley. [I will fight against] you people who boast, saying, “No one can attack us and break through [our defenses].”
See, I am against you, you who are living on the rock of the valley, says the Lord; you who say, Who will come down against us? or who will get into our houses?
14 I will punish you for your wicked deeds like you deserve to be punished; [It will be as though] I will light a fire in your forests that will burn up everything around you!’”
I will send punishment on you in keeping with the fruit of your doings, says the Lord: and I will put a fire in her woodlands, burning up everything round about her.
