1. This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord. This was when King Zedekiah of Judah sent Pashhur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah. They brought a message for Jeremiah.
2. They said to Jeremiah, “Pray to the Lord for us. Ask him what will happen. We want to know, because King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is attacking us. Maybe the Lord will do great things for us, as he did in the past. Maybe he will make Nebuchadnezzar stop attacking us and leave.”
3. Then Jeremiah answered Pashhur and Zephaniah. He said, “Tell King Zedekiah,
4. ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: You have weapons of war in your hands that you are using to defend yourselves from the Babylonians and their king. But I will make those weapons worthless. “‘The army from Babylon is outside the wall all around the city. Soon I will bring that army into Jerusalem.
5. I myself will fight against you people of Judah. I will fight against you with my own powerful hand. I am very angry with you, so I will fight against you with my own powerful arm. I will fight very hard against you and show how angry I am.
6. I will kill everything living in Jerusalem, both people and animals. They will die from a terrible disease that will spread all through the city.