Jeremiah:21-22

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* The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD , when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashhur the son of Malchiah , and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest , saying : * 'Inquire , I pray thee , of the LORD for us ; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us ; peradventure 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 , the 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 , that besiege you without the walls , and I will gather 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 compassion . * 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 away 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 unto the house of the king of Judah : Hear ye the word of the LORD ; * O house of David , thus saith the LORD : Execute justice in the morning , and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor , lest My fury go forth 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 ; ye that say : 'Who shall come down against us ? or who shall enter into our habitations ?' * And I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings , saith the LORD ; and I will kindle a fire in her forest , and it shall devour all that is round about her . * Thus said 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 justice 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 concerning the house of the king of Judah : Thou art Gilead unto Me , the head of Lebanon ; yet surely I will make thee a wilderness , 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 forsook 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 , who reigned instead of Josiah his father , and who went forth out of this place : He shall not return thither any more ; * but in the place whither they have led him captive , there shall he die , and he shall see this land no more . * Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness , and his chambers by injustice ; that useth his neighbour 's service without wages , and giveth him not his hire ; * That saith : 'I will build me a wide house and spacious chambers ', and cutteth him out windows , and it is ceiled with cedar , and painted with vermilion . * Shalt thou reign , because thou strivest to excel in cedar ? Did not thy father eat and drink , and do justice and righteousness ? Then it was well with him . * He judged the cause of the poor and needy ; then it was well . Is not this to know Me ? saith the LORD . * But thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy covetousness , and for shedding 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 : 'Ah my brother !' or : 'Ah sister !' They shall not lament for him : '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 Abarim , for all thy lovers are destroyed . * I spoke unto thee in thy prosperity , but thou saidst : 'I will not hear .' This hath been thy manner from thy youth , that thou hearkenedst not to My voice . * The wind shall feed upon all thy shepherds , and thy lovers shall go into captivity ; surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness . * O inhabitant of Lebanon , that art nestled 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 of whom thou art afraid , 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 bore thee , into another country , where ye were not born ; and there shall ye die . * But to the land whereunto they long to return , thither shall they not return . * Is this man Coniah a despised , broken image ? Is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure ? Wherefore are they cast out , he and his seed , and are cast into the land which they know not ? * O land , land , land , 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 unto the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture ! saith the LORD .

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