Jeremiah 21–22

CHAPTER 21

Jeremiah’s Message for Zedekiah

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh when ^aKing Zedekiah sent to him ^bPashhur, the son of Malchijah, and ^cZephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying,

²“Please ^ainquire of Yahweh on our behalf, for ^1bNebuchadnezzar king of ^cBabylon is warring against us; perhaps Yahweh will deal with us ^daccording to all His ²wonderful acts, so that the enemy will go up from us.”

³Then Jeremiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah,

⁴‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to ^aturn 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 ^bgather them into the center of this city.

⁵“I ^aMyself will war against you with an ^boutstretched hand and a strong arm, even in ^canger 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 ^apestilence.

⁷“Then afterwards,” declares Yahweh, “^aI 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 ^bwill not show pity on them nor spare nor have compassion.” ’

⁸“You shall also say to this people, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I ^aset before you the way of life and the way of death.

⁹“He who ^ainhabits this city will die by the ^bsword 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 ^aset My face against this city for ¹evil and not for good,” declares Yahweh. “It will be ^bgiven into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will ^cburn it with fire.” ’

¹¹“Then say to the household of the ^aking of Judah, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh,

¹²O ^ahouse of David, thus says Yahweh:

“^bRender justice ¹every ^cmorning;

And deliver the person who has been robbed from the ²power of his oppressor,

^dLest My wrath go forth like fire

And ^eburn with none to extinguish it,

Because of the evil of their deeds.

¹³“Behold, ^aI am against you, O ^binhabitant of the valley,

O ¹rocky plain,” declares Yahweh,

“You men who say, ‘^cWho will come down against us?

Or who will enter into our dwelling places?’

¹⁴“But I will punish you ^aaccording to the ¹results of your deeds,” declares Yahweh,

“And I will ^bkindle a fire in its forest

That it may devour all its surroundings.” ’ ”

CHAPTER 22

O Land, Hear Yahweh

¹Thus says Yahweh, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there you shall speak this word

²and say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, O king of Judah, who ^asits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates.

³‘Thus says Yahweh, “^aDo justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his ^boppressor. Also ^cdo not mistreat or do violence to the sojourner, the orphan, or the widow; and do not ^dshed innocent blood in this place.

⁴“For if you men will indeed do this thing, then ^akings will enter the gates of this house, sitting for David on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people.

⁵“^aBut if you will not obey these words, I ^bswear by Myself,” declares Yahweh, “that this house will become a waste place.” ’ ”

⁶For thus says Yahweh concerning the house of the king of Judah:

“You are like ^aGilead to Me,

Like the summit of Lebanon;

Yet most assuredly I will make you like a ^bwilderness,

Like cities which are not inhabited.

⁷“For I will set apart ^adestroyers against you,

Each with his weapons;

And they will ^bcut down your choicest cedars

And ^cthrow them on the fire.

⁸“Many nations will pass by this city; and they will ^asay to one another, ‘Why has Yahweh done thus to this great city?’

⁹“Then they will say, ‘Because they ^aforsook the covenant of Yahweh their God and worshiped other gods and served them.’”

^10aDo not weep for the dead or console him,

But weep continually for the one who goes away,

For ^bhe will never return

Or see the land of his birth.

¹¹For thus says Yahweh in regard to ^1aShallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in the place of Josiah his father, who went forth from this place, “He will never return there;

¹²but in the place where they took him away into exile, there he will ^adie and not see this land again.

¹³“Woe to him who builds his house ^awithout righteousness

And his ¹upper rooms without justice,

Who uses his neighbor’s services without pay

And ^bdoes not give him his wages,

¹⁴Who says, ‘I will ^abuild myself a roomy house

With spacious ¹upper rooms

And cut out its windows,

²Paneling it with ^bcedar and painting it ³bright red.’

¹⁵“Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar?

Did not your father eat and drink

And ^ado justice and righteousness?

Then it was ^bwell with him.

¹⁶“He pled the cause of the ^aafflicted and needy;

Then it was well.

^bIs not that what it means to know Me?”

Declares Yahweh.

¹⁷“But your eyes and your heart

Are set on nothing except your own ^agreedy gain

And on ^bshedding innocent blood

And on doing oppression and extortion.”

¹⁸Therefore thus says Yahweh in regard to ^aJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah,

“They will not ^blament for him:

‘^cAlas, my brother!’ or, ‘Alas, sister!’

They will not lament for him:

‘Alas for the master!’ or, ‘Alas for his splendor!’

¹⁹“He will be ^aburied with a donkey’s burial,

Dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

²⁰“Go up to Lebanon and cry out,

And lift up your voice in Bashan;

Cry out also from ^aAbarim,

For all your ^blovers have been broken.

²¹“I spoke to you in your prosperity,

But ^ayou said, ‘I will not listen!’

^bThis has been your way ^cfrom your youth,

That you have not listened to My voice.

²²“The wind will sweep away all your ^ashepherds,

And your ^blovers will go into captivity;

Then you will surely be ^cashamed and feel dishonor

Because of all your evil.

²³“You who inhabit Lebanon,

Nested in the cedars,

How you will groan when pangs come upon you,

^aPain like a woman in childbirth!

²⁴“As I live,” declares Yahweh, “even though ^1aConiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a ^bsignet ring on My right hand, yet I would pull ²you ³off;

²⁵and I will ^agive you over into the hand of those who are seeking your life, indeed, into the hand of those whom you dread, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

²⁶“I will ^ahurl you and your ^bmother who bore you into another land—there you were not born, but there you will die.

²⁷“But as for the land to which their soul desires to return, they will not return to it.

²⁸“Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered jar?

Or is he an ^aundesirable vessel?

Why have he and his seed been ^bhurled out

And cast into a ^cland that they had not known?

²⁹“^aO land, land, land,

Hear the word of Yahweh!

³⁰“Thus says Yahweh,

‘Write this man down ^achildless,

A man who will ^bnot succeed in his days;

For no man of his ^cseed will succeed

Sitting on the throne of David

Or ruling again in Judah.’”