¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent him Pashhur the son of Malchijah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, who said, ²“Inquire of the Lord concerning us, for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon is fighting against us. It may be that the Lord will deal with us according to all his wonders, and he will raise the siege from us.” ³But Jeremiah said to them, “This is what you will say to Zedekiah: ⁴‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: «I am about to overturn the weapons of war which are in your hand, with which you are fighting the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall, and I will gather them into this city. ⁵And I myself will fight you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, and with anger, and with fury, and with great wrath. ⁶And I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They will die in a great plague. ⁷And after that, says the Lord, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants, and the people, and those remaining in this city after the plague, after the sword, and after the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those seeking their life, and he will strike them with the edge of the sword. He will not spare them, and he will not pity, and he will not show compassion.» ’ ⁸And you will say to this people, ‘This is what the Lord says: «I am about to place before you the way of life and the way of death. ⁹He who remains in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by the plague, but he who goes out and falls into the hands of the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and his life will be his spoil. ¹⁰For I have set my face against this city with a view to its detriment and not to its benefit, says the Lord. It will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.» ’ ¹¹And as for the house of the king of Judah, hear the word of the Lord. ¹²‘O house of David, this is what the Lord says:

«Administer justice in the morning,

And deliver him who has been plundered from the oppressor,

So that my fury does not go forth like fire

And burn with no-one to extinguish it,

Because of the evil of their deeds.

¹³I am here against you,

You who inhabit the valley

And the rock of the plain,

Says the Lord

– Against you who say,

‹Who can descend on us,

And who will come to our dwelling places?›

¹⁴But I will visit you according to the fruit of your deeds,

Says the Lord,

And I will light a fire in her forest,

And it will consume all her surrounding area.» ’ ”