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
International Standard Version
Zedekiah’s Request for a Miracle
21 The message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Malchijah’s son Pashhur and Maaseiah’s son Zephaniah the priest: 2 “Please inquire of the Lord on our behalf, because King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is fighting against us. Perhaps the Lord will do some of his miraculous acts[a] for us, and Nebuchadnezzar[b] will depart from us.”
3 Jeremiah told them, “This is what you are to say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: “I’m about to turn against you the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. I’ll gather them into the center of this city. 5 Because of my anger, wrath, and great fury, I’ll fight against you myself with an outstretched hand and a strong arm. 6 I’ll strike down the residents of this city, both people and animals, and they’ll die from a terrible plague. 7 Afterwards,” declares the Lord, “I’ll give King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials,[c] and the people—those who are left in this city from the plague, the sword, and the famine—into the control of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, right into the hand of their enemies and the hand of those who want to kill them. He’ll execute them with swords and won’t pity them. He won’t spare them, nor will he have compassion on them.”’
8 “You are to say to this people, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I’m about to set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, by famine, and by the plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live. He will save his life as a spoil of war.[d] 10 Indeed, I’m firmly decided—I’m sending calamity to this city, not good,” declares the Lord. “It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will set it on fire.”’
The Guilt of Judah’s King
11 “To the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear this message from the Lord.
12 This is what the Lord says, house of David:
“Judge appropriately every morning,
and deliver those who have been robbed
from the oppressor,
so my anger does not break out like fire
and burn with no one to put it out
because of your evil deeds.
13 “Look, I’m against you,
city dwelling in the valley,
rock of the plain,”
declares the Lord,
“those of you who say, ‘Who can come down against us
and who can enter our habitations?’
14 But I’ll punish you according to
what you have done,”[e]
declares the Lord.
“I’ll start a fire in her forest,
and it will consume everything around her.”’”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 21:2 Lit. according to all his miraculous acts
- Jeremiah 21:2 Lit. he
- Jeremiah 21:7 Or servants
- Jeremiah 21:9 I.e. his life will be spared
- Jeremiah 21:14 Lit. to the fruit of your deeds
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