Jeremiahchapter 21

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1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. They said,

2 “Please inquire of the LORD on our behalf, since Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is waging war against us. Perhaps the LORD will perform for us something like all His past wonders, so that Nebuchadnezzar will withdraw from us.”

3 But Jeremiah answered, “You are to tell Zedekiah that

4 this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will turn against you the weapons of war in your hands, with which you are fighting the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the wall, and I will assemble their forces in the center of this city.

5 And I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, with anger, fury, and great wrath.

6 I will strike down the residents of this city, both man and beast. They will die in a terrible plague.’

7 ‘After that,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah, his officers, and the people in this city who survive the plague and sword and famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who seek their lives. He will put them to the sword; he will not spare them or show pity or compassion.’

8 Furthermore, you are to tell this people that this is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.

9 Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who besiege you will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war.

10 For I have set My face against this city to bring disaster and not good, declares the LORD. It will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, who will destroy it with fire.’

11 Moreover, tell the house of the king of Judah to hear the word of the LORD.

12 O house of David, this is what the LORD says: ‘Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor, or My wrath will go forth like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it because of their evil deeds.

13 Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?”

14 I will punish you as your deeds deserve, declares the LORD. I will kindle a fire in your forest that will consume everything around you.’”

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Chapter summary

Zedekiah, with the Babylonians already at the walls, sends Pashhur and Zephaniah the priest to ask whether Jehovah will deal with them according to his wondrous works and make the enemy withdraw.

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Zedekiah, with the Babylonians already at the walls, sends Pashhur and Zephaniah the priest to ask whether Jehovah will deal with them according to his wondrous works and make the enemy withdraw. The answer inverts every holy-war memory: God himself will fight against the city 'with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in wrath.' To the people he offers a terrible mercy: 'Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death': he that stays dies by sword, famine, and pestilence; he that goes out to the Chaldeans lives, his life for a prey. To the house of David: execute justice in the morning, lest my fury go forth like fire.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.

Context

Prophecy · Jeremiah — Jeremiah overview

A. 1–7 Zedekiah Inquires: I Myself Will Fight Against You
B. 8–14 The Way of Life and the Way of Death Set Before You

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Jeremiah 373 verses
- Jeremiah 37:3Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet with the message, “Please pray to the LORD our God for us!”
- Jeremiah 37:8Then the Chaldeans will return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it down.
- Jeremiah 37:17Later, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and received him in his palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there a word from the LORD?” “There is,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.”
- Read Jeremiah 37 →
Isaiah 52 verses
- Isaiah 5:5Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.
- Isaiah 5:25Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lay like refuse in the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
- Read Isaiah 5 →
Ezekiel 142 verses
- Ezekiel 14:17Or if I bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through it,’ so that I cut off from it both man and beast,
- Ezekiel 14:21For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it both man and beast?
- Read Ezekiel 14 →
Deuteronomy 302 verses
- Deuteronomy 30:15See, I have set before you today life and goodness, as well as death and disaster.
- Deuteronomy 30:19I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live,
- Read Deuteronomy 30 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Jeremiah 442 verses
- Jeremiah 44:11Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will set My face to bring disaster and to cut off all Judah.
- Jeremiah 44:27I am watching over them for harm and not for good, and every man of Judah who is in the land of Egypt will meet his end by sword or famine, until they are finished off.
- Read Jeremiah 44 →
Jeremiah 291 verse
- Jeremiah 29:25this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “In your own name you have sent out letters to all the people of Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests. You said to Zephaniah:
- Read Jeremiah 29 →
Jeremiah 521 verse
- Jeremiah 52:24The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.
- Read Jeremiah 52 →
Jeremiah 421 verse
- Jeremiah 42:4“I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will surely pray to the LORD your God as you request, and I will tell you everything that the LORD answers; I will not withhold a word from you.”
- Read Jeremiah 42 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.