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
Revised Standard Version
Jerusalem Will Fall to Nebuchadrezzar
21 This is the word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedeki′ah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchi′ah and Zephani′ah the priest, the son of Ma-asei′ah, saying, 2 “Inquire of the Lord for us, for Nebuchadrez′zar 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.”
3 Then Jeremiah said to them: 4 “Thus you shall say to Zedeki′ah, ‘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 Chalde′ans who are besieging you outside the walls; and I will bring them together into the midst of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. 6 And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they shall die of a great pestilence. 7 Afterward, says the Lord, I will give Zedeki′ah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrez′zar 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. 9 He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chalde′ans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war. 10 For 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.’
Message to the House of David
11 “And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, 12 O 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?’
14 I 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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Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.