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¹ THE word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashur the son of Melchiah and Zephaniah the son of Maasiah, the priests, saying,² Enquire of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us; perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, and cause the enemy to withdraw from us.³ Then said Jeremiah to them, Thus shall you say to Zedekiah:⁴ Thus says the LORD God of Israel: Behold, I will destroy the weapons of war which are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the city, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.⁵ And I myself will fight against you with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm, even in anger and in great wrath.⁶ And in great wrath will I smite the inhabitants of this city, both men and beasts; they shall die of a great pestilence.⁷ And afterward, says the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants and the people that are left in this city, from the sword and from the pestilence and from the famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their lives; and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; and he shall not spare them, neither have pity nor have mercy upon them.

⁸ And to this people you shall say, Thus says the LORD: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.⁹ He who abides in this city shall die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence; but he who surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you, he shall live, and he shall save his life.¹⁰ For I have set my face against this city for evil and not for good, says the LORD; it shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.¹¹ And concerning the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear the word of the LORD, O house of David; thus says the LORD:¹² Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him who is oppressed from the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.¹³ Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, O you who are hidden below the plain, says the LORD, who 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, says the LORD, and I will kindle a fire in its villages, and it shall devour all things round about it.