Jeremiah:21-22

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* 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 , * 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 . * Then said Jeremiah unto them , Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah : * 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 . * 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 . * And I will smite the inhabitants of this city , both man and beast : they shall die of a great pestilence . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * And touching the house of the king of Judah , say , Hear ye the word of the LORD ; * 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 . * 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 ? * 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 . * Thus saith the LORD ; Go down to the house of the king of Judah , and speak there this word , * And say , Hear the word of the LORD , O king of Judah , that sittest upon the throne of David , thou , and thy servants , and thy people that enter in by these gates : * Thus saith the LORD ; Execute ye judgment and righteousness , and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor : and do no wrong , do no violence to the stranger , the fatherless , nor the widow , neither shed innocent blood in this place . * For if ye do this thing indeed , then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David , riding in chariots and on horses , he , and his servants , and his people . * But if ye will not hear these words , I swear by myself , saith the LORD , that this house shall become a desolation . * For thus saith the LORD unto the king 's house of Judah ; Thou art Gilead unto me , and the head of Lebanon : yet surely I will make thee a wilderness , and cities which are not inhabited . * And I will prepare destroyers against thee , every one with his weapons : and they shall cut down thy choice cedars , and cast them into the fire . * And many nations shall pass by this city , and they shall say every man to his neighbour , Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city ? * Then they shall answer , Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God , and worshipped other gods , and served them . * Weep ye not for the dead , neither bemoan him : but weep sore for him that goeth away : for he shall return no more , nor see his native country . * For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah , which reigned instead of Josiah his father , which went forth out of this place ; He shall not return thither any more : * But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive , and shall see this land no more . * Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness , and his chambers by wrong ; that useth his neighbour 's service without wages , and giveth him not for his work ; * That saith , I will build me a wide house and large chambers , and cutteth him out windows ; and it is cieled with cedar , and painted with vermilion . * Shalt thou reign , because thou closest thyself in cedar ? did not thy father eat and drink , and do judgment and justice , and then it was well with him ? * He judged the cause of the poor and needy ; then it was well with him : was not this to know me ? saith the LORD . * But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness , and for to shed innocent blood , and for oppression , and for violence , to do it . * Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah ; They shall not lament for him , saying , Ah my brother ! or , Ah sister ! they shall not lament for him , saying , Ah lord ! or , Ah his glory ! * He shall be buried with the burial of an ass , drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem . * Go up to Lebanon , and cry ; and lift up thy voice in Bashan , and cry from the passages : for all thy lovers are destroyed . * I spake unto thee in thy prosperity ; but thou saidst , I will not hear . This hath been thy manner from thy youth , that thou obeyedst not my voice . * The wind shall eat up all thy pastors , and thy lovers shall go into captivity : surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness . * O inhabitant of Lebanon , that makest thy nest in the cedars , how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee , the pain as of a woman in travail ! * As I live , saith the LORD , though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand , yet would I pluck thee thence ; * And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life , and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest , even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon , and into the hand of the Chaldeans . * And I will cast thee out , and thy mother that bare thee , into another country , where ye were not born ; and there shall ye die . * But to the land whereunto they desire to return , thither shall they not return . * Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol ? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure ? wherefore are they cast out , he and his seed , and are cast into a land which they know not ? * O earth , earth , earth , hear the word of the LORD . * Thus saith the LORD , Write ye this man childless , a man that shall not prosper in his days : for no man of his seed shall prosper , sitting upon the throne of David , and ruling any more in Judah . * Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture ! saith the LORD .

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