Jeremiah 21
Legacy Standard Bible
Jeremiah’s Message for Zedekiah
21 The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh 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 Yahweh on our behalf, for [a](E)Nebuchadnezzar king of (F)Babylon is warring against us; perhaps Yahweh will deal with us (G)according to all His [b]wonderful acts, so that the enemy will go up from us.”
3 Then Jeremiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘Thus says Yahweh, the 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 strong 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 Yahweh, “(N)I will give over Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people, even those who remain 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 enemies 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 show pity on them nor spare nor have compassion.”’
8 “You shall also say to this people, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I (P)set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who (Q)inhabits 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 spoil. 10 For I have (S)set My face against this city for [c]evil and not for good,” declares Yahweh. “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 Yahweh, 12 O (W)house of David, thus says Yahweh:
“(X)Render justice [d]every (Y)morning;
And deliver the person who has been robbed from the [e]power of his oppressor,
(Z)Lest My wrath 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)inhabitant of the valley,
O [f]rocky plain,” declares Yahweh,
“You men who say, ‘(AD)Who will come down against us?
Or who will enter into our dwelling places?’
14 But I will punish you (AE)according to the [g]results of your deeds,” declares Yahweh,
“And I will (AF)kindle a fire in its forest
That it may devour all its surroundings.”’”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 21:2 Heb Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar in Jer and Ezek
- Jeremiah 21:2 Or miracles
- Jeremiah 21:10 Or calamity
- 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
Jeremiah 21
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Lord Rejects King Zedekiah
21 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malkijah along with Zephaniah the priest, the son of Ma’aseiah,[a] to speak to Jeremiah. They said, 2 “Inquire of the Lord for us, because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will perform some of his wonders on our behalf as he did in the past, so that Nebuchadnezzar will withdraw from us.”
3 But Jeremiah answered them:
Tell Zedekiah that 4 the Lord, the God of Israel, says this.
I will certainly turn the weapons of war in your hands against you, the ones you are using to fight against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans,[b] who are outside your wall besieging you. And I will bring them inside this city.
5 I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, with furious anger and great wrath. 6 I will strike those who live in this city, both man and animal. They will die of a terrible plague. 7 Afterward, says the Lord, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, those who serve him, and the people in this city who survive the plague, sword, and famine. I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies and into the hands of those who seek their lives. He will strike them with the sword. He will show them no compassion, no pity, and no mercy.
8 Tell this people this is what the Lord says. I will certainly set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 Whoever remains in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but all those who go out and surrender to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will escape with their lives. 10 For I have set my face against this city to bring harm and not good, says the Lord. The city will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it up with fire.
11 Concerning the house of the king of Judah, this is the word of the Lord. 12 The Lord says that you, House of David, are to administer justice in the morning and deliver the victim of robbery from the hand of the oppressor, or my wrath will flare up like fire and burn so that no one can put it out, because of the evil you have done.
13 Look, I am against you, you who live in this valley in the rocky highlands, declares the Lord. I am against you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our homes?” 14 I will punish you according to what you have done, says the Lord. I will kindle a fire in the forest, and it will consume everything around you.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 21:1 The stop mark ′ shows that the double vowel is to be pronounced as two syllables.
- Jeremiah 21:4 The Chaldeans were the ethnic group ruling Babylon at this time.
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