Jeremiah 21
21
No Deliverance from Babylon
1The Lord spoke through Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malkijah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, to speak with him. They begged Jeremiah, 2“Please speak to the Lord for us and ask him to help us. King Nebuchadnezzar#21:2 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar; also in 21:7. of Babylon is attacking Judah. Perhaps the Lord will be gracious and do a mighty miracle as he has done in the past. Perhaps he will force Nebuchadnezzar to withdraw his armies.”
3Jeremiah replied, “Go back to King Zedekiah and tell him, 4‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will make your weapons useless against the king of Babylon and the Babylonians#21:4 Or Chaldeans; also in 21:9. who are outside your walls attacking you. In fact, I will bring your enemies right into the heart of this city. 5I myself will fight against you with a strong hand and a powerful arm, for I am very angry. You have made me furious! 6I will send a terrible plague upon this city, and both people and animals will die. 7And after all that, says the Lord, I will hand over King Zedekiah, his staff, and everyone else in the city who survives the disease, war, and famine. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their other enemies. He will slaughter them and show them no mercy, pity, or compassion.’
8“Tell all the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Take your choice of life or death! 9Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine, or disease, but those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be life! 10For I have decided to bring disaster and not good upon this city, says the Lord. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will reduce it to ashes.’
Judgment on Judah’s Kings
11“Say to the royal family of Judah, ‘Listen to this message from the Lord! 12This is what the Lord says to the dynasty of David:
“‘Give justice each morning to the people you judge!
Help those who have been robbed;
rescue them from their oppressors.
Otherwise, my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire
because of all your sins.
13I will personally fight against the people in Jerusalem,
that mighty fortress—
the people who boast, “No one can touch us here.
No one can break in here.”
14And I myself will punish you for your sinfulness,
says the Lord.
I will light a fire in your forests
that will burn up everything around you.’”
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Jeremiah 21: NLT
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Jeremiah 21
21
God Rejects King Zedekiah’s Request
1This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord. This was when King Zedekiah of Judah sent Pashhur#21:1 Pashhur This is not the same Pashhur as the man in Jer. 20:1. son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah. They brought a message for Jeremiah. 2They said to Jeremiah, “Pray to the Lord for us. Ask him what will happen. We want to know, because King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is attacking us. Maybe the Lord will do great things for us, as he did in the past. Maybe he will make Nebuchadnezzar stop attacking us and leave.”
3Then Jeremiah answered Pashhur and Zephaniah. He said, “Tell King Zedekiah, 4‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: You have weapons of war in your hands that you are using to defend yourselves from the Babylonians and their king. But I will make those weapons worthless.
“‘The army from Babylon is outside the wall all around the city. Soon I will bring that army into Jerusalem. 5I myself will fight against you people of Judah. I will fight against you with my own powerful hand. I am very angry with you, so I will fight against you with my own powerful arm. I will fight very hard against you and show how angry I am. 6I will kill everything living in Jerusalem, both people and animals. They will die from a terrible disease that will spread all through the city. 7After that happens,’” says the Lord, “‘I will give King Zedekiah of Judah and all his officials to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. And I will give to Nebuchadnezzar the people who remain alive in Jerusalem—those who did not die from the terrible disease and the people who did not die in war or from hunger. I will give them all to King Nebuchadnezzar. The people of Judah will be captured by their enemies who want to kill them. Nebuchadnezzar’s army will use their swords to kill the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar will not show any mercy. He will not feel sorry for them.’
8“Also tell the people of Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Understand that I will let you choose to live or die. 9Anyone who stays in Jerusalem will die in war or from hunger or disease. But anyone who goes out of Jerusalem and surrenders to the Babylonians attacking you will live. Only those who leave the city will win anything in this war—their lives! 10I have decided to make trouble for the city of Jerusalem. I will not help this city! I will give it to the king of Babylon, who will burn it with fire.’” This message is from the Lord.
11“Say this to Judah’s royal family: ‘Listen to the message from the Lord. 12Family of David, this is what the Lord says:
“‘You must judge people fairly every day.
Protect the victims from the criminals.
If you don’t do that, I will become very angry.
My anger will be like a fire that no one will be able to put out.
This will happen because you have done evil things.’
13“Jerusalem, I am against you.
You sit on top of the mountain.
You sit like a queen over this valley.
You people of Jerusalem say,
‘No one can attack us.
No one can come into our strong city.’”
This message is from the Lord.
14“You will get the punishment you deserve.
I will start a fire in your forests
that will completely burn everything around you.”
This message is from the Lord.
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