Jeremiah’s Message for Zedekiah
21 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when (A)King Zedekiah sent to him (B)Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and (C)Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, 2 “Please (D)inquire of the Lord on our behalf, for (E)Nebuchadnezzar king of (F)Babylon is warring against us; perhaps the Lord will deal with us (G)according to all His [a]wonderful acts, so that the enemy will withdraw from us.”
3 Then Jeremiah said to them, “You shall say to Zedekiah as follows: 4 ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to (H)turn back the weapons of war which are in your hands, with which you are warring against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall; and I will (I)gather them into the center of this city. 5 I (J)Myself will war against you with an (K)outstretched hand and a mighty arm, even in (L)anger and wrath and great indignation. 6 I will also strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great (M)pestilence. 7 Then afterwards,” declares the Lord, “(N)I will give over Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people, even those who survive in this city from the pestilence, the sword and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their foes and into the hand of those who seek their lives; and he will strike them down with the edge of the sword. He (O)will not spare them nor have pity nor compassion.”’
8 “You shall also say to this people, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I (P)set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who (Q)dwells in this city will die by the (R)sword and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as booty. 10 For I have (S)set My face against this city for [b]harm and not for good,” declares the Lord. “It will be (T)given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will (U)burn it with fire.”’
11 “Then say to the household of the (V)king of Judah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, 12 O (W)house of David, thus says the Lord:
“(X)Administer justice [c]every (Y)morning;
And deliver the person who has been robbed from the [d]power of his oppressor,
(Z)That My wrath may not go forth like fire
And (AA)burn with none to extinguish it,
Because of the evil of their deeds.
13 “Behold, (AB)I am against you, O (AC)valley dweller,
O [e]rocky plain,” declares the Lord,
“You men who say, ‘(AD)Who will come down against us?
Or who will enter into our habitations?’
14 “But I will punish you (AE)according to the [f]results of your deeds,” declares the Lord,
“And I will (AF)kindle a fire in its forest
That it may devour all its environs.”’”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 21:2 Or miracles
- Jeremiah 21:10 Lit evil
- Jeremiah 21:12 Or in the
- Jeremiah 21:12 Lit hand
- Jeremiah 21:13 Lit rock of the level place
- Jeremiah 21:14 Lit fruit
Cross references
- Jeremiah 21:1 : 2 Kin 24:17, 18; Jer 32:1-3; 37:1; 52:1-3
- Jeremiah 21:1 : 1 Chr 9:12; Jer 38:1
- Jeremiah 21:1 : 2 Kin 25:18; Jer 29:25, 29; 37:3; 52:24
- Jeremiah 21:2 : Ex 9:28; Jer 37:3, 17; Ezek 14:7; 20:1-3
- Jeremiah 21:2 : 2 Kin 25:1
- Jeremiah 21:2 : Gen 10:10; 2 Kin 17:24
- Jeremiah 21:2 : Ps 44:1-3; Jer 32:17
- Jeremiah 21:4 : Jer 32:5; 33:5; 37:8-10; 38:2, 3, 17, 18
- Jeremiah 21:4 : Is 5:5; 13:4; Jer 39:3; Lam 2:5, 7; Zech 14:2
- Jeremiah 21:5 : Is 63:10
- Jeremiah 21:5 : Ex 6:6; Deut 4:34; Jer 6:12
- Jeremiah 21:5 : Is 5:25; Jer 32:37
- Jeremiah 21:6 : Jer 14:12; 32:24
- Jeremiah 21:7 : 2 Kin 25:5-7, 18-21; Jer 37:17; 39:5-9; 52:9
- Jeremiah 21:7 : 2 Chr 36:17; Jer 13:14; Ezek 7:9; Hab 1:6-10
- Jeremiah 21:8 : Deut 30:15, 19; Is 1:19, 20
- Jeremiah 21:9 : Jer 38:2, 17-23; 39:18; 45:5
- Jeremiah 21:9 : Jer 14:12; 24:10
- Jeremiah 21:10 : Lev 17:10; Jer 44:11, 27; Amos 9:4
- Jeremiah 21:10 : Jer 32:28, 29; 38:3
- Jeremiah 21:10 : 2 Chr 36:19; Jer 34:2; 37:10; 38:18; 39:8; 52:13
- Jeremiah 21:11 : Jer 17:20
- Jeremiah 21:12 : Is 7:2, 13
- Jeremiah 21:12 : Ps 72:1; Is 1:17; Jer 7:5; 22:3; Zech 7:9, 10
- Jeremiah 21:12 : Ps 101:8; Zeph 3:5
- Jeremiah 21:12 : Jer 4:4; 17:4; Ezek 20:47, 48; Nah 1:6
- Jeremiah 21:12 : Is 1:31; Jer 7:20
- Jeremiah 21:13 : Jer 23:30-32; Ezek 13:8
- Jeremiah 21:13 : Ps 125:2; Is 22:1
- Jeremiah 21:13 : 2 Sam 5:6, 7; Jer 49:4; Lam 4:12; Obad 3, 4
- Jeremiah 21:14 : Is 3:10, 11; Jer 17:10; 32:19
- Jeremiah 21:14 : 2 Chr 36:19; Is 10:16, 18; Jer 11:16; 17:27; 52:13; Ezek 20:47, 48