| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 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, | 1The LORD spoke to Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. Zedekiah sent them to Jeremiah to ask, |
| 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.” | 2"Please ask the LORD to come and help us, because King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is attacking us. Maybe the LORD will perform one of his miracles as in times past and make him stop attacking us and leave." |
| 3Jeremiah replied, “Go back to King Zedekiah and tell him, | 3Jeremiah answered them, "Tell Zedekiah |
| 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. | 4that the LORD, the God of Israel, says, 'The forces at your disposal are now outside the walls fighting against King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Babylonians who have you under siege. I will gather those forces back inside the city. |
| 5I myself will fight against you with a strong hand and a powerful arm, for I am very angry. You have made me furious! | 5In anger, in fury, and in wrath I myself will fight against you with my mighty power and great strength! |
| 6I will send a terrible plague upon this city, and both people and animals will die. | 6I will kill everything living in Jerusalem, people and animals alike! They will die from terrible diseases. |
| 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.’ | 7Then I, the LORD, promise that I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and any of the people who survive the war, starvation, and disease. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their enemies who want to kill them. He will slaughter them with the sword. He will not show them any mercy, compassion, or pity.' |
| 8“Tell all the people, ‘This is what the LORD says: Take your choice of life or death! | 8"But tell the people of Jerusalem that the LORD says, 'I will give you a choice between two courses of action. One will result in life; the other will result in death. |
| 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! | 9Those who stay in this city will die in battle or of starvation or disease. Those who leave the city and surrender to the Babylonians who are besieging it will live. They will escape with their lives. |
| 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 | 10For I, the LORD, say that I am determined not to deliver this city but to bring disaster on it. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon and he will destroy it with fire.'" |
| 11“Say to the royal family of Judah, ‘Listen to this message from the LORD! | 11The LORD told me to say to the royal court of Judah, "Listen to what the LORD says, |
| 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. | 12O royal family descended from David. The LORD says: 'See to it that people each day are judged fairly. Deliver those who have been robbed from those who oppress them. Otherwise, my wrath will blaze out against you. It will burn like a fire that cannot be put out because of the evil that you have done. |
| 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.” | 13Listen, you who sit enthroned above the valley on a rocky plateau. I am opposed to you,' says the LORD. 'You boast, "No one can swoop down on us. No one can penetrate into our places of refuge." |
| 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.’” | 14But I will punish you as your deeds deserve,' says the LORD. 'I will set fire to your palace; it will burn up everything around it.'" |
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