Jeremiah 21

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord

²“Please inquire of the Lord

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

⁴‘Thus says the Lord

⁵I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and fury and great wrath.

⁶I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they shall die of a great pestilence.

⁷And afterward,” says the Lord

⁸“Now you shall say to this people, ‘Thus says the Lord

⁹He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and defects to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be as a prize to him.

¹⁰For I have set My face against this city for adversity and not for good,” says the Lord

¹¹“And concerning the house of the king of Judah, say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord

¹²O house of David! Thus says the Lord “Execute judgment in the morning; And deliver him who is plundered Out of the hand of the oppressor, Lest My fury go forth like fire And burn so that no one can quench it, Because of the evil of your doings.

¹³“Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, And rock of the plain,” says the Lord “Who say, ‘Who shall come down against us? Or who shall enter our dwellings?’

¹⁴But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings,” says the Lord “I will kindle a fire in its forest, And it shall devour all things around it.” ’ ”