1. The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
2. 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.
3. Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah:
4. 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 which besiege you, without the walls, and I will gather them into the midst of this city.
5. 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.
6. And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.
7. And afterward, saith the Lord, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, even 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.
8. 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.