The Father Answers Zedekiah's Plea
21 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from our Father when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, saying, 2 "Please inquire of our Father on our behalf, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps our Father will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds, so that the enemy will withdraw from us."
3 Then Jeremiah said to them, "Tell Zedekiah this:
4 This is what the Father of Israel says: I am about to turn back the weapons you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who are besieging you outside the wall, and I will bring them into the heart of this city. 5 And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a strong arm, in anger and fury and great wrath. 6 I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both people and animals; they will die in a great plague. 7 After that, declares our Father, I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants, and the people in this city who survive the plague, the sword, and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He will cut them down with the sword; he will not pity them or spare them or have compassion.
8 Tell these people: This is what our Father says: I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, by famine, and by plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; his life will be all he takes away. 10 For I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares our Father. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.
The Father's Word to David's House
11 Say to the royal house of Judah: Listen to the word of our Father.
12 House of David, this is what our Father says: Administer justice every morning, and rescue those who have been robbed from the hand of their oppressor, or my wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds. 13 Look, I am against you, you who dwell above the valley, you rock of the plain, declares our Father — you who say, "Who can come down against us? Who can enter our dwellings?" a a v13 Jerusalem sat on a high ridge above surrounding valleys, which gave its people a false confidence that the city was unassailable. 14 I will punish you as your deeds deserve, declares our Father. I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it will devour everything around her.