| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying, | 1The LORD spoke through Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malkijah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, to speak with him. They begged Jeremiah, |
| 2“Please inquire of the LORD for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against us. Perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all His wonderful works, that the king may go away from us.” | 2“Please speak to the LORD for us and ask him to help us. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is attacking Judah. Perhaps the LORD will be gracious and do a mighty miracle as he has done in the past. Perhaps he will force Nebuchadnezzar to withdraw his armies.” |
| 3Then Jeremiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, | 3Jeremiah replied, “Go back to King Zedekiah and tell him, |
| 4‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel: “Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls; and I will assemble them in the midst of this city. | 4‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I will make your weapons useless against the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who are outside your walls attacking you. In fact, I will bring your enemies right into the heart of this city. |
| 5I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and fury and great wrath. | 5I myself will fight against you with a strong hand and a powerful arm, for I am very angry. You have made me furious! |
| 6I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they shall die of a great pestilence. | 6I will send a terrible plague upon this city, and both people and animals will die. |
| 7And afterward,” says the LORD, “I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence and the sword and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword. He shall not spare them, or have pity or mercy.” ’ | 7And after all that, says the LORD, I will hand over King Zedekiah, his staff, and everyone else in the city who survives the disease, war, and famine. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their other enemies. He will slaughter them and show them no mercy, pity, or compassion.’ |
| 8“Now you shall say to this people, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. | 8“Tell all the people, ‘This is what the LORD says: Take your choice of life or death! |
| 9He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and defects to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be as a prize to him. | 9Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine, or disease, but those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be life! |
| 10For I have set My face against this city for adversity and not for good,” says the LORD. “It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.” ’ | 10For I have decided to bring disaster and not good upon this city, says the LORD. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will reduce it to ashes.’ Judgment on Judah’s Kings |
| 11“And concerning the house of the king of Judah, say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, | 11“Say to the royal family of Judah, ‘Listen to this message from the LORD! |
| 12O house of David! Thus says the LORD: “Execute judgment in the morning; And deliver him who is plundered Out of the hand of the oppressor, Lest My fury go forth like fire And burn so that no one can quench it, Because of the evil of your doings. | 12This is what the LORD says to the dynasty of David: “‘Give justice each morning to the people you judge! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Otherwise, my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire because of all your sins. |
| 13“Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, And rock of the plain,” says the LORD, “Who say, ‘Who shall come down against us? Or who shall enter our dwellings?’ | 13I will personally fight against the people in Jerusalem, that mighty fortress— the people who boast, “No one can touch us here. No one can break in here.” |
| 14But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings,” says the LORD; “I will kindle a fire in its forest, And it shall devour all things around it.” ’ ” | 14And I myself will punish you for your sinfulness, says the LORD. I will light a fire in your forests that will burn up everything around you.’” |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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