Do you want to live or die?
1The Lord talked to Jeremiah again. It happened when Zedekiah, king_of_Judah, sent Pashhur, son of Malkijah, and the priest Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah. They told Jeremiah: 2‘Please ask the Lord what we must do, because Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has come to make war_against us. Maybe the Lord will do a miracle to help us, like He did long ago, and then the king of Babylon will go away from us.’
3Jeremiah told them: 4‘You must tell Zedekiah, the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “You are now fighting against the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who are around the city, but I will turn your spears and arrows that you fight with against yourselves and I will bring your enemies into this city. 5I will make war_against you Myself and I will punish you, because I am angry with you, very angry. 6I will cause almost everyone in the city to die from a bad disease. Almost all the people and animals will die. 7And then I will give Zedekiah, king_of_Judah, and his officials to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will also give Nebuchadnezzar the people who did not die from the disease or in war or from hunger. I will give them to their enemies who want to kill them. The enemies will kill all of those people. They will not feel sorry for them and they will not leave one alive.” ’
8And the Lord said to Jeremiah: ‘You must tell this nation: “You can choose if you want to live or if you want to die. 9Everyone who stays in this city will die. The enemies will kill you or you will die from a disease or hunger. But everyone who goes out of the city to the Babylonians who are around the city will live. They will have nothing else, but they will live. 10Yes, I have become the enemy of this city. I will make bad things happen to you, and there will be nothing good. I give this city to the king of Babylon and he will burn and destroy the city.” ’
The Lord will punish the family of the king
11The Lord told Jeremiah to tell the family of the king_of_Judah:
‘You must listen to what the Lord says.
12The Lord says
to the descendants of King David:
“You must do what is right
to people every morning.
People take things that belong
to other people and make them suffer,
but you must help those people who suffer.
If you don't do it, I will become very angry.
It will be like a fire that keeps on burning,
and no one will be able to put out the fire
because of all the bad things you are doing.”
13The Lord talks to the people
who live in the valleys outside the city,
on the rocks on the mountain. He says:
“You think that you are safe there
and you are not afraid,
but I am your enemy.
14I will punish you
for the bad things that you do.
I will burn down your palace
and everything around it will burn.” ’
