Jeremiah 21:1–22:30
Jeremiah’s Message for Zedekiah
1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when aKing Zedekiah sent to him bPashhur the son of Malchijah, and cZephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying,
2 “Please ainquire of the Lord on our behalf, for bNebuchadnezzar king of cBabylon is warring against us; perhaps the Lord will deal with us daccording to all His 1wonderful 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 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 mighty 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 the Lord, “aI 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 bwill not spare them nor have pity nor compassion.” ’
8 “You shall also say to this people, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I aset before you the way of life and the way of death.
9 “He who adwells in 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 booty.
10 “For I have aset My face against this city for 1harm and not for good,” declares the Lord. “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 the Lord,
12 O ahouse of David, thus says the Lord:
“bAdminister justice 1every cmorning;
And deliver the person who has been robbed from the 2power of his oppressor,
dThat My wrath may not 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 bvalley dweller,
O 1rocky plain,” declares the Lord,
“You men who say, ‘cWho will come down against us?
Or who will enter into our habitations?’
14 “But I will punish you aaccording to the 1results of your deeds,” declares the Lord,
“And I will bkindle a fire in its forest
That it may devour all its environs.” ’ ”
1 Thus says the Lord, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word
2 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who asits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates.
3 ‘Thus says the Lord, “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 stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not dshed innocent blood in this place.
4 “For if you men will indeed perform this thing, then akings will enter the gates of this house, sitting 1in David’s place 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 the Lord, “that this house will become a desolation.” ’ ”
6 For thus says the Lord 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 the Lord done thus to this great city?’
9 “Then they will 1answer, ‘Because they aforsook the covenant of the Lord their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.’ ”
10 aDo not weep for the dead or mourn for him,
But weep continually for the one who goes away;
For bhe will never return
Or see his native land.
11 For thus says the Lord 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;
12 but in the place where they led him captive, 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,
14 Who 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 the Lord.
17 “But your eyes and your heart
Are intent only upon your own adishonest gain,
And on bshedding innocent blood
And on practicing oppression and extortion.”
18 Therefore thus says the Lord 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 crushed.
21 “I spoke to you in your prosperity;
But ayou said, ‘I will not listen!’
bThis has been your practice cfrom your youth,
That you have not obeyed 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 humiliated
Because of all your wickedness.
Nested in the cedars,
How you will groan when pangs come upon you,
aPain like a woman in childbirth!
24 “As I live,” declares the Lord, “even though 1aConiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a bsignet ring on My right hand, yet I would pull 1you 2off;
25 and I will agive you over into the hand of those who are seeking your life, yes, 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 country where you were not born, and there you will die.
27 “But as for the land to which they desire 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 descendants been bhurled out
And cast into a cland that they had not known?
29 “aO land, land, land,
Hear the word of the Lord!
‘Write this man down achildless,
A man who will bnot prosper in his days;
For no man of his cdescendants will prosper
Sitting on the throne of David
Or ruling again in Judah.’ ”