Jeremiah 21
21
Jerusalem's Defeat is Predicted
1King Zedekiah of Judah sent Pashhur son of Malchiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to me with this request: 2#2 Kgs 25.1–11; 2 Chr 36.17–21“Please speak to the LORD for us, because King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army are besieging the city. Maybe the LORD will perform one of his miracles for us and force Nebuchadnezzar to retreat.”
3Then the LORD spoke to me, and I told the men who had been sent to me 4to tell Zedekiah that the LORD, the God of Israel, had said, “Zedekiah, I am going to defeat your army that is fighting against the king of Babylonia and his army. I will pile up your soldiers' weapons in the centre of the city. 5I will fight against you with all my might, my anger, my wrath, and my fury. 6I will kill everyone living in this city; people and animals alike will die of a terrible disease. 7But as for you, your officials, and the people who survive the war, the famine, and the disease — I will let all of you be captured by King Nebuchadnezzar and by your enemies, who want to kill you. Nebuchadnezzar will put you to death. He will not spare any of you or show mercy or pity to any of you. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
8Then the LORD told me to say to the people, “Listen! I, the LORD, am giving you a choice between the way that leads to life and the way that leads to death. 9Anyone who stays in the city will be killed in war or by starvation or disease. But those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians, who are now attacking the city, will not be killed; they will at least escape with their lives. 10I have made up my mind not to spare this city, but to destroy it. It will be given over to the king of Babylonia and he will burn it to the ground. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
Judgement on the Royal House of Judah
11-12The LORD told me to give this message to the royal house of Judah, the descendants of David: “Listen to what I, the LORD, am saying. See that justice is done every day. Protect the person who is being cheated from the one who is cheating him. If you don't, the evil you are doing will make my anger burn like a fire that cannot be put out. 13You, Jerusalem, are sitting#21.13 You, Jerusalem, are sitting; or You are enthroned. high above the valleys, like a rock rising above the plain. But I will fight against you. You say that no one can attack you or break through your defences. 14But I will punish you for what you have done. I will set your palace on fire, and the fire will burn down everything round it. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Jeremiah 21
21
1This is the word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Ma-aseiah, saying, 2“Inquire of the Lord for us, for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon is making war against us; perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds, and will make him withdraw from us.”
3Then Jeremiah said to them: 4“Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war which are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls; and I will bring them together into the midst of this city. 5I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. 6And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they shall die of a great pestilence. 7Afterward, says the Lord, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not pity them, or spare them, or have compassion.’
8“And to this people you shall say: ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war. 10For I have set my face against this city for evil and not for good, says the Lord: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’
11“And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, 12O house of David! Thus says the Lord:
“ ‘Execute justice in the morning,
and deliver from the hand of the oppressor
him who has been robbed,
lest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of your evil doings.’ ”
13“Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
O rock of the plain,
says the Lord;
you who say, ‘Who shall come down against us,
or who shall enter our habitations?’
14I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings,
says the Lord;
I will kindle a fire in her forest,
and it shall devour all that is round about her.”
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America