Prophecies to the King and to the People

Chapter 21

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchiah and the priest Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah, to say, ²“Please inquire of the Lord on our behalf, for King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon is attacking us. Perhaps the Lord will act for our sake in accordance with all His wonders, so that [Nebuchadrezzar] will withdraw from us.”

³Jeremiah answered them, “Thus shall you say to Zedekiah: ⁴Thus said the Lord, the God of Israel: I am going to turn around the weapons in your hands with which you are battling outside the wall against those who are besieging you—the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans—and I will take them into the midst of this city; ⁵and I Myself will battle against you with an outstretched mighty arm, with anger and rage and great wrath. ⁶I will strike the inhabitants of this city, man and beast: they shall die by a terrible pestilence. ⁷And then—declares the Lord—I will deliver King Zedekiah of Judah and his courtiers and the people— those in this city who survive the pestilence, the sword, and the famine—into the hands of King Nebuchadrez-zar of Babylon, into the hands of their enemies, into the hands of those who seek their lives. He will put them to the sword without pity, without compassion, without mercy.

⁸“And to this people you shall say: Thus said the Lord: I set before you the way of life and the way of death. ⁹Whoever remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but whoever leaves and goes over to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live; he shall at least gain his life. ¹⁰For I have set My face against this city for evil and not for good—declares the Lord. It shall be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, who will destroy it by fire.”

¹¹To the House of the king of Judah: Hear the word of the Lord! ¹²O House of David, thus said the Lord:

Chapter 22

¹Thus said the Lord: Go down to the palace of the king of Judah, where you shall utter this word. ²Say: “Hear the word of the Lord: O king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David, and your courtiers and your subjects who enter these gates! ³Thus said the Lord: Do what is just and right; rescue from the defrauder him who is robbed; do not wrong the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow; commit no lawless act, and do not shed the blood of the innocent in this place. ⁴For if you fulfill this command, then through the gates of this palace shall enter kings of David’s line who sit upon his throne, riding horse-drawn chariots, with their courtiers and their subjects. ⁵But if you do not heed these commands, I swear by Myself—declares the Lord—that this palace shall become a ruin.” [ . . . ]

¹¹For thus said the Lord concerning Shallum son of King Josiah of Judah, who succeeded his father Josiah as king, but who has gone forth from this place: He shall never come back. ¹²He shall die in the place to which he was exiled, and he shall not see this land again.

²⁴As I live—declares the Lord—if you, O King Coniah, son of Jehoiakim, of Judah, were a signet on my right hand, I would tear you off even from there. ²⁵I will deliver you into the hands of those who seek your life, into the hands of those you dread, into the hands of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon and into the hands of the Chaldeans. ²⁶I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another land, where you were not born; there you shall both die. ²⁷They shall not return to the land that they yearn to come back to. [ . . . ]

Chapter 23

¹Ah, shepherds who let the flock of My pasture stray and scatter!—declares the Lord. ²Assuredly, thus said the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who should tend My people: It is you who let My flock scatter and go astray. You gave no thought to them, but I am going to give thought to you, for your wicked acts—declares the Lord. ³And I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands to which I have banished them, and I will bring them back to their pasture, where they shall be fertile and increase. ⁴And I will appoint over them shepherds who will tend them; they shall no longer fear or be dismayed, and none of them shall be missing—declares the Lord.

⁵See, a time is coming—declares the Lord—when I will raise up a true branch of David’s line. He shall reign as king and shall prosper, and he shall do what is just and right in the land. ⁶In his days Judah shall be delivered and Israel shall dwell secure. And this is the name by which he shall be called: “The Lord is our Vindicator.”

⁷Assuredly, a time is coming—declares the Lord— when it shall no more be said, “As the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt,” ⁸but rather, “As the Lord lives, who brought out and led the offspring of the House of Israel from the northland and from all the lands to which I have banished them.” And they shall dwell upon their own soil.