Jeremiah 21:1–7

Jeremiah’s Message for Zedekiah

¹The 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.”

³Then 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.” ’