Open English Translation JER Chapter 21

21 Then Yahweh gave Yirmiyah (Jeremiah) a message when King Tsidkiyah (Zedekiah) sent Malkiyah’s son Pashhur and Ma’aseyah’s son Tsefanyah (Zephaniah) the priest to him, and they said, 2 “Please request Yahweh’s advice on our behalf, because the Babylonian King Nevukadnetsar (Nebuchadnezzar) is attacking us.[ref] Perhaps Yahweh will do miracles for us like he has in the past, and will make him stop attacking us and leave.”

3 So Yirmiyah told them to tell King Tsidkiyah that 4 Yisrael’s (Israel) god Yahweh says this:

Listen, I’m about to make your own weapons ineffective that you’re all using to fight the Babylonian king and the Kasdim (Chaldeans) who are laying siege to you from outside the wall, and I’ll gather them[fn] in the middle of this city. 5 Then I myself will fight you all with all my strength and power in my anger and rage and terrible fury, 6 and I’ll kill this city’s inhabitants—people and animals will all die from terrible, deadly diseases. 7 Then Yahweh declares that after that I’ll hand over Yehudah’s (Judah) King Tsidkiyah along with his officers, and the people in this city who survive the deadly diseases and sword and famine, to the Babylonian King Nevukadnetsar, and to their enemies who want to kill them. He’ll kill them with the sword—he won’t spare them or show pity or compassion.

8 Then you must tell this to the people:

Yahweh says that I’m about to give you the choice between the path to life and the path to death. 9 Anyone who stays in this city will die from war, famine, or deadly diseases, but anyone who goes out and falls to their knees in front of the Babylonians who’ve surrounded you all, will live They’ll escape with their lives that way 10 because I’ve already decided to harm this city rather than doing good. Yahweh declares that this city will be handed over to the Babylonian king and he’ll burn it down.

11 As for Yehudah’s (Judah) king, listen to this message from Yahweh 12 for David’s descendants:

Administer justice every morning

and rescue anyone who’s been robbed, from their oppressor,

otherwise my fury will go out like fire

and burn, but no one will be able to extinguish it

because of your wicked activities.

13 Yahweh declares: listen you inhabitants from the valley

and you on the rocky plain.

You all say that no one can swoop down on you,

or be able to enter your hiding places,

14 however I will punish you all according to the results of your actions.

Yahweh declares:

I’ll start a fire in your forest

and it’ll consume everything around it.