Jeremiah, Chapters 21-23, verses 1-8: BIBLE, New American Standard Bible == BIBLE-CENTER

Jeremiah, Chapter 21

¹ The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, ² “Please inquire of the LORD on our behalf, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is warring against us; perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all His^awonderful acts, so that the enemy will withdraw from us.”

³ Then Jeremiah said to them, “You shall say to Zedekiah as follows: ⁴ ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to turn back the weapons of war which are in your hands, with which you are warring against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall; and I will gather them into the center of this city. ⁵ I Myself will war against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, even in anger and wrath and great indignation. ⁶ I will also strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great pestilence. ⁷ Then afterwards,” declares the LORD, “I will give over Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people, even those who survive in this city from the pestilence, the sword and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their foes and into the hand of those who seek their lives; and he will strike them down with the edge of the sword. He will not spare them nor have pity nor compassion.”’

⁸ “You shall also say to this people, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. ⁹ He who dwells in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as booty. ¹⁰ For I have set My face against this city for^bharm and not for good,” declares the LORD. “It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will burn it with fire.”’

¹¹ “Then say to the household of the king of Judah, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, ¹² O house of David, thus says the LORD:“Administer justice^cevery morning;
And deliver the person who has been robbed from the^dpower of his oppressor,
That My wrath may not go forth like fire
And burn with none to extinguish it,
Because of the evil of their deeds.

¹³

“Behold, I am against you, O valley dweller,
O^erocky plain,” declares the LORD,
“You men who say, ‘Who will come down against us?
Or who will enter into our habitations?’

¹⁴

“But I will punish you according to the^fresults of your deeds,” declares the LORD,
“And I will kindle a fire in its forest
That it may devour all its environs.”’”

Jeremiah, Chapter 22

¹ Thus says the LORD, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word ² and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates. ³ Thus says the LORD, “Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴ For if you men will indeed perform this thing, then kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting^ain David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people. ⁵ But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself,” declares the LORD, “that this house will become a desolation.”’” ⁶ For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah:“You are like Gilead to Me,
Like the summit of Lebanon;
Yet most assuredly I will make you like a wilderness,
Like cities which are not inhabited.

⁷“For I will set apart destroyers against you,
Each with his weapons;
And they will cut down your choicest cedars
And throw them on the fire.

⁸ “Many nations will pass by this city; and they will say to one another, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this great city?’ ⁹ Then they will^banswer, ‘Because they forsook the covenant of the LORD their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.’”

¹⁰

Do not weep for the dead or mourn for him,
But weep continually for the one who goes away;
For he will never return
Or see his native land.

¹¹ For thus says the LORD in regard to^cShallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in the place of Josiah his father, who went forth from this place, “He will never return there; ¹² but in the place where they led him captive, there he will die and not see this land again.

¹³

“Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness
And his^dupper rooms without justice,
Who uses his neighbor’s services without pay
And does not give him his wages,

¹⁴

Who says, ‘I will build myself a roomy house
With spacious^eupper rooms,
And cut out its windows,
^fPaneling it with cedar and painting it^gbright red.’

¹⁵

“Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
And do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him.

¹⁶

“He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy;
Then it was well.
Is not that what it means to know Me?”
Declares the LORD.

¹⁷

“But your eyes and your heart
Are intent only upon your own dishonest gain,
And on shedding innocent blood
And on practicing oppression and extortion.”

¹⁸ Therefore thus says the LORD in regard to Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah,“They will not lament for him:
‘Alas, my brother!’ or, ‘Alas, sister!’
They will not lament for him:
‘Alas for the master!’ or, ‘Alas for his splendor!’

¹⁹“He will be buried with a donkey’s burial,
Dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

²⁰“Go up to Lebanon and cry out,
And lift up your voice in Bashan;
Cry out also from Abarim,
For all your lovers have been crushed.

²¹“I spoke to you in your prosperity;
But you said, ‘I will not listen!’
This has been your practice from your youth,
That you have not obeyed My voice.

²²“The wind will sweep away all your shepherds,
And your lovers will go into captivity;
Then you will surely be ashamed and humiliated
Because of all your wickedness.

²³“You who dwell in Lebanon,
Nested in the cedars,
How you will groan when pangs come upon you,
Pain like a woman in childbirth!

²⁴ “As I live,” declares the LORD, “even though^hConiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a signet ring on My right hand, yet I would pullⁱyou^joff; ²⁵ and I will give you over into the hand of those who are seeking your life, yes, into the hand of those whom you dread, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. ²⁶ I will hurl you and your mother who bore you into another country where you were not born, and there you will die. ²⁷ But as for the land to which they desire to return, they will not return to it.

²⁸

“Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered jar?
Or is he an undesirable vessel?
Why have he and his descendants been hurled out
And cast into a land that they had not known?

²⁹

“O land, land, land,
Hear the word of the LORD!

³⁰ “Thus says the LORD,‘Write this man down childless,
A man who will not prosper in his days;
For no man of his descendants will prosper
Sitting on the throne of David
Or ruling again in Judah.’”

Jeremiah, Chapter 23, verses 1-8

¹ “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD. ² Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are^atending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” declares the LORD. ³ “Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. ⁴ I will also raise up shepherds over them and they will^btend them; and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the LORD.

⁵

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD,
“When I will raise up for David a righteous^cBranch;
And He will reign as king and^dact wisely
And do justice and righteousness in the land.

⁶

“In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell securely;
And this is His name by which He will be called,
‘The LORD our righteousness.’

⁷ “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ ⁸ but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will live on their own soil.”


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