Jeremiah 21

Evangelical Heritage Version

Tell Zedekiah that ⁴ the Lord, the God of Israel, says this.

I will certainly turn the weapons of war in your hands against you, the ones you are using to fight against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans,^[b] who are outside your wall besieging you. And I will bring them inside this city.

⁵ I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, with furious anger and great wrath. ⁶ I will strike those who live in this city, both man and animal. They will die of a terrible plague. ⁷ Afterward, says the Lord, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, those who serve him, and the people in this city who survive the plague, sword, and famine. I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies and into the hands of those who seek their lives. He will strike them with the sword. He will show them no compassion, no pity, and no mercy.

⁸ Tell this people this is what the Lord says. I will certainly set before you the way of life and the way of death. ⁹ Whoever remains in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but all those who go out and surrender to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will escape with their lives. ¹⁰ For I have set my face against this city to bring harm and not good, says the Lord. The city will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it up with fire.

¹¹ Concerning the house of the king of Judah, this is the word of the Lord. ¹² The Lord says that you, House of David, are to administer justice in the morning and deliver the victim of robbery from the hand of the oppressor, or my wrath will flare up like fire and burn so that no one can put it out, because of the evil you have done.

¹³ Look, I am against you, you who live in this valley in the rocky highlands, declares the Lord. I am against you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our homes?” ¹⁴ I will punish you according to what you have done, says the Lord. I will kindle a fire in the forest, and it will consume everything around you.