The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,

Inquire for us of Jehovah, for Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps Jehovah will deal with us according to all His wonderful deeds, so that he goes up from us.

Then Jeremiah said to them, Thus you will say to Zedekiah,

Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, I am about to turn back the weapons of war which are in your hand and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans, who are besieging you outside the walls; and I will gather them together into the midst of this city.

I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm and in anger and wrath and great indignation.

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

And afterward, declares Jehovah, I will deliver Zedekiah the king of Judah and his servants and the people who remain in this city after the pestilence and after the sword and after the famine into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life, and he will strike them with the edge of the sword and will not pity them or spare them or have compassion on them.

And to this people you shall say, Thus says Jehovah, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.

He who remains in this city will die by sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live and have his own life as spoil.

For I have set My face against this city for evil and not for good, declares Jehovah; it will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.

And to the house of the king of Judah say, Hear the word of Jehovah,

O house of David, thus says Jehovah: Execute judgment every morning, And deliver him who has been robbed from the hand of the oppressor, Lest My wrath go forth like fire And burn, and there be no one to extinguish it, Because of the evil of your deeds.

Indeed, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, O rock of the plateau, declares Jehovah, Those who say, Who will come down against us, And who will enter into our habitations?

But I will punish you according to the fruit of your deeds, Declares Jehovah, And I will kindle a fire in her forest, And it will devour all that is around her.