1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. They said,[ † ]2 Kings 24:17-18Jeremiah 32:1-3Jeremiah 37:1Jeremiah 52:1-31 Chronicles 9:12Jeremiah 38:12 Kings 25:18Jeremiah 29:25Jeremiah 37:3 2“Please inquire of the Lord on our behalf, since Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is waging war against us. Perhaps the Lord will perform for us something like all His past wonders, so that Nebuchadnezzar will withdraw from us.”[ † ]Exodus 9:281 Samuel 9:9Jeremiah 37:3-7Ezekiel 14:7Ezekiel 20:1-3
3But Jeremiah answered, “You are to tell Zedekiah that 4this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will turn against you the weapons of war in your hands, with which you are fighting the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the wall, and I will assemble their forces in the center of this city.[ † ]Isaiah 13:4Jeremiah 39:3Lamentations 2:5-7Zechariah 14:2 5And I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, with anger, fury, and great wrath.[ † ]Jeremiah 32:24Jeremiah 33:5Isaiah 63:10Exodus 6:6Deuteronomy 4:34Jeremiah 6:12 6I will strike down the residents of this city, both man and beast. They will die in a terrible plague.’
7‘After that,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah, his officers, and the people in this city who survive the plague and sword and famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who seek their lives. He will put them to the sword; he will not spare them or show pity or compassion.’[ † ]2 Kings 25:5-7, 18-21Jeremiah 37:17Jeremiah 39:5Jeremiah 52:9Deuteronomy 28:502 Chronicles 36:17Jeremiah 13:14Ezekiel 7:9Habakkuk 1:6-10
8Furthermore, you are to tell this people that this is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.[ † ]Deuteronomy 30:15-19Isaiah 1:19-20 9Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who besiege you will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war.[ † ]Jeremiah 38:2Jeremiah 39:18 10For I have set My face against this city to bring disaster and not good, declares the Lord. It will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, who will destroy it with fire.’[ † ]Leviticus 17:10Jeremiah 44:11-27Amos 9:4Jeremiah 38:32 Kings 25:92 Chronicles 36:19Jeremiah 34:2-22Jeremiah 37:10
11Moreover, tell the house of the king of Judah to hear the word of the Lord.