Jer 21, Jer 37 | ESV | STEP | This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord , when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the priest , the son of Maaseiah , saying ,

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him ^aPashhur the son of Malchiah and ^bZephaniah the priest, the son of ^cMaaseiah, saying, 2 ^d“Inquire of the Lord for us, ^efor Nebuchadnezzar ^{▼▼Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, an alternate spelling of Nebuchadnezzar (king of Babylon) occurring frequently from Jeremiah 21–52; this latter spelling is used throughout Jeremiah for consistency} king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to ^gall his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”

3 Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^hBehold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. ⁱAnd I will bring them together into the midst of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you ^jwith outstretched hand and strong arm, ^kin anger and in fury and in great wrath. 6 And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. 7 Afterward, declares the Lord, ^lI will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. ^mHe shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’

8 “And to this people you shall say: ⁿ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, ^oI set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who stays in this city shall die ^pby the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and ^qsurrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live ^rand shall have his life as a prize of war. 10 For ^sI have set my face against this city for harm and ^tnot for good, declares the Lord: ^uit shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’

Message to the House of David

11 “And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, 12 O house of David! Thus says the Lord:

^v“‘Execute justice ^win the morning,
and deliver from the hand of the oppressor
him who has been robbed,
^xlest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of your evil deeds.’”
13 ^y“Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
O rock of the plain,

declares the Lord;
you who say, ^z‘Who shall come down against us,
or who shall enter our habitations?’
14 ^aaI will punish you according to ^abthe fruit of your deeds,

declares the Lord;
^acI will kindle a fire in her forest,
^adand it shall devour all that is around her.”

Jeremiah 37

Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah

1 ^aeZedekiah the son of Josiah, ^afwhom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of ^agConiah the son of Jehoiakim. 2 ^ahBut neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

3 King Zedekiah sent ^aiJehucal the son of ^ajShelemiah, and ^akZephaniah the priest, the son of ^alMaaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please ^ampray for us to the Lord our God.” 4 ^anNow Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, ^aofor he had not yet been put in prison. 5 ^apThe army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when ^aqthe Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, ^arthey withdrew from Jerusalem.

6 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7 “Thus says the Lord, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who ^assent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, ^atPharaoh’s army that came to help you is about to ^aureturn to Egypt, to its own land. 8 And ^avthe Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. ^awThey shall capture it and burn it with fire. 9 Thus says the Lord, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away. 10 ^axFor even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and ^ayburn this city with fire.’”

Jeremiah Imprisoned

11 Now when ^azthe Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh’s army, 12 Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to ^bathe land of Benjamin ^bbto receive his portion there ^bcamong the people. 13 When he was at ^bdthe Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Irijah the son of ^beShelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ^bf“You are deserting to the Chaldeans.” 14 And Jeremiah said, “It is a lie; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah would not listen to him, and seized Jeremiah and brought him to ^bgthe officials. 15 And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him ^bhand imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison.

16 ^biWhen Jeremiah had come to the dungeon cells and remained there many days, 17 King Zedekiah sent for him and received him. The king questioned him ^bjsecretly in his house and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?” Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, ^bk“You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” 18 Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, ^blthat you have put me in prison? 19 ^bmWhere are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? 20 Now hear, please, O my lord the king: ^bnlet my humble plea come before you and ^bodo not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, lest I die there.” 21 So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to ^bpthe court of the guard. And a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers’ street, ^bquntil all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in ^brthe court of the guard.