Jer 21

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from YHWH, when king Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying, 2 Inquire, I pray you, of YHWH for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon makes war against us: peradventure YHWH will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us. 3 Then said Jeremiah to them, Thus shall you say to Zedekiah: 4 Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel, Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith you fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans that besiege you, without the walls; and I will gather them into the midst of this city. 5 And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in anger, and in great indignation. 6 And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence. 7 And afterward, says YHWH, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, even such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy. 8 And to this people you shall say, Thus says YHWH: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who abides in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes out, and passes over to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be to him for a prey. 10 For I have set my face upon this city for evil, and not for good, says YHWH: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. 11 And touching the house of the king of Judah, hear you the word of YHWH: 12 O house of David, thus says YHWH, Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him whom is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my anger go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. 13 Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, [and] of the rock of the plain, says YHWH; you that say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations? 14 And I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, says YHWH; and I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all that is round about her.