King Zedekiah asks Jeremiah to inquire of the LORD while Nebuchadnezzar attacks. Jeremiah says God will fight against Jerusalem, and tells the people that those who surrender will live.
1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD , when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah , and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest , saying ,
2 Enquire , I pray thee, of the LORD for us ; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works , that he may go up from us.
3 Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah :
4 Thus saith the LORD God of Israel ; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands , wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon , and against the Chaldeans , which besiege you without the walls , and I will assemble them into the midst of this city .
5 And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm , even in anger , and in fury , and in great wrath .
6 And I will smite the inhabitants of this city , both man and beast : they shall die of a great pestilence .
7 And afterward , saith the LORD , I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah , and his servants , and the people , and such as are left in this city from the pestilence , from the sword , and from the famine , into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon , and into the hand of their enemies , and into the hand of those that seek their life : and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword ; he shall not spare them, neither have pity , nor have mercy .
8 And unto this people thou shalt say , Thus saith the LORD ; Behold, I set before you the way of life , and the way of death .
9 He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword , and by the famine , and by the pestilence : but he that goeth out , and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live , and his life shall be unto him for a prey .
10 For I have set my face against this city for evil , and not for good , saith the LORD : it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon , and he shall burn it with fire .
11 And touching the house of the king of Judah , say, Hear ye the word of the LORD ;
12 O house of David , thus saith the LORD ; Execute judgment in the morning , and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor , lest my fury go out like fire , and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings .
13 Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley , and rock of the plain , saith the LORD ; which say , Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations ?
14 But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings , saith the LORD : and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.