Jeremiah 21

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying,

This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur, son of Malchijah, and the priest Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah to talk with him. They said,

2 “Please inquire of Yahweh for us; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against us. Perhaps Yahweh will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may withdraw from us.”

“Please speak with Lord on our behalf because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is attacking us. Perhaps the Lord will do some miracle for us like all those miracles he used to do, so that Nebuchadnezzar will retreat from us.”

3 Then Jeremiah said to them, “Tell Zedekiah:

But Jeremiah replied, “Tell Zedekiah this:

4 ‘Yahweh, the God of Israel says, “Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls; and I will gather them into the middle of this city.

This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I'm going to turn the weapons you're holding against you, the weapons you're using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonian army outside the wall besieging you. I'm going to bring them right into the center of this city.

5 I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation.

I myself will fight against you with all my power and might, with the full force of my furious anger.

6 I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and animal. They will die of a great pestilence.

I will kill those living in this city, human beings and animals. They will die from a terrible plague.

7 Afterward,” says Yahweh, “I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants, and the people, even those who are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. He will strike them with the edge of the sword. He will not spare them, have pity, or have mercy.”’

After that, declares the Lord, I'm going to hand you over, Zedekiah king of Judah, as well as your officers and the people who are left in this city after the plague and war and famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to your enemies who want you dead. He will attack you; he won't spare you or show you any pity or mercy.

8 “You shall say to this people, ‘Yahweh says: “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.

Tell the people this as well: This is what the Lord says: Look, I'm placing before you the path of life and the path of death.

9 He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, but he who goes out and passes over to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he will live, and he will escape with his life.

If you stay in this city you'll die either by sword and famine and plague, but if you leave and surrender to the Babylonians who are besieging you, you will live. In fact it will be like gaining your life as plunder from a war.

10 For I have set my face on this city for evil, and not for good,” says Yahweh. “It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.”’

For I am determined to bring disaster on this city, and not blessings, declares the Lord. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, who will destroy it with fire.

11 “Concerning the house of the king of Judah, hear Yahweh’s word:

In addition tell the royal family of the king of Judah to listen to the Lord's message:

12 House of David, Yahweh says, ‘Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my wrath go out like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

Descendants of David, this is what the Lord says: Make sure you judge fairly every day. Protect those who are being unjustly treated from those corrupt people, otherwise because of their evil actions my anger will blaze out like fire that can't be put out.

13 Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, and of the rock of the plain,’ says Yahweh. ‘You that say, “Who would come down against us?” or, “Who would enter into our homes?”

Watch out, because I'm going to fight against you people who live above the valley on top of a flat rock, declares the Lord. You say, ‘Who can attack us? Who can break down our defenses?’

14 I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings,’ says Yahweh; ‘and I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it will devour all that is around her.’”

I'm going to punish you as you deserve for what you've done, declares the Lord. I will set your forest on fire and it will burn up everything around you.”