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Jeremiah 21
New American Standard Bible 1995
Jeremiah 21
New American Standard Bible 1995
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
Jeremiah 21
New International Version
Jeremiah 21
New International Version
God Rejects Zedekiah’s Request
21 The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah(A) sent to him Pashhur(B) son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah(C) son of Maaseiah. They said: 2 “Inquire(D) now of the Lord for us because Nebuchadnezzar[a](E) king of Babylon(F) is attacking us. Perhaps the Lord will perform wonders(G) for us as in times past so that he will withdraw from us.”
3 But Jeremiah answered them, “Tell Zedekiah, 4 ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am about to turn(H) against you the weapons of war that are in your hands, which you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonians[b] who are outside the wall besieging(I) you. And I will gather them inside this city. 5 I myself will fight(J) against you with an outstretched hand(K) and a mighty arm(L) in furious anger and in great wrath. 6 I will strike(M) down those who live in this city—both man and beast—and they will die of a terrible plague.(N) 7 After that, declares the Lord, I will give Zedekiah(O) king of Judah, his officials and the people in this city who survive the plague,(P) sword and famine, into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon(Q) and to their enemies(R) who want to kill them.(S) He will put them to the sword;(T) he will show them no mercy or pity or compassion.’(U)
8 “Furthermore, tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: See, I am setting before you the way of life(V) and the way of death. 9 Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague.(W) But whoever goes out and surrenders(X) to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; they will escape with their lives.(Y) 10 I have determined to do this city harm(Z) and not good, declares the Lord. It will be given into the hands(AA) of the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.’(AB)
11 “Moreover, say to the royal house(AC) of Judah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord. 12 This is what the Lord says to you, house of David:
“‘Administer justice(AD) every morning;
rescue from the hand of the oppressor(AE)
the one who has been robbed,
or my wrath will break out and burn like fire(AF)
because of the evil(AG) you have done—
burn with no one to quench(AH) it.
13 I am against(AI) you, Jerusalem,
you who live above this valley(AJ)
on the rocky plateau, declares the Lord—
you who say, “Who can come against us?
Who can enter our refuge?”(AK)
14 I will punish you as your deeds(AL) deserve,
declares the Lord.
I will kindle a fire(AM) in your forests(AN)
that will consume everything around you.’”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 21:2 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, of which Nebuchadnezzar is a variant; here and often in Jeremiah and Ezekiel
- Jeremiah 21:4 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 9
New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.