- Jeremiah 21 (Contemporary English Version)
- King Zedekiah of Judah sent for Pashhur son of Malchiah and for a priest named Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. Then he told them,"Talk with Jeremiah for me." So they came to me and said,
- "King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia has attacked Judah. Please ask the LORD to work miracles for our people, as he has done in the past, so that Nebuchadnezzar will leave us alone."
- I told them that the LORD God of Israel had told me to say to King Zedekiah: The Babylonians have surrounded Jerusalem and want to kill you and your people. You are asking me to save you, but you have made me furious. So I will stretch out my mighty arm and fight against you myself. Your army is using spears and swords to fight the Babylonians, but I will make your own weapons turn and attack you. I will send a horrible disease to kill many of the people and animals in Jerusalem, and there will be nothing left to eat. Finally, I will let King Nebuchadnezzar and his army fight their way to the center of Jerusalem and capture everyone who is left alive, including you and your officials. But Nebuchadnezzar won't be kind or show any mercy--he will have you killed! I, the LORD, have spoken.
- (SEE 21:3)
- (SEE 21:3)
- (SEE 21:3)
- (SEE 21:3)
- Then I told them that the LORD had said: People of Jerusalem, I, the LORD, give you the choice of life or death.
- The Babylonian army has surrounded Jerusalem, so if you want to live, you must go out and surrender to them. But if you want to die because of hunger, disease, or war, then stay here in the city.
- I have decided not to rescue Jerusalem. Instead, I am going to let the king of Babylonia burn it to the ground. I, the LORD, have spoken. *
- Pay attention, you that belong to the royal family.
- Each new day, make sure that justice is done, and rescue those who are being robbed. Or else my anger will flame up like a fire that never goes out.
- Jerusalem, from your mountaintop you look out over the valleys and think you are safe. But I, the LORD, am angry,
- and I will punish you as you deserve. I'll set your palace on fire, and everything around you will go up in smoke.
Circumstances have changed considerably from chapter 20 to chapter 21. Chapter 20 records an account of Pashhur the priest, who was the chief officer in the temple, having Jeremiah beaten and placed in stocks overnight for his message of doom against Judah and its leaders. Chapter 21 records an account of a different Pashhur who was sent by King Zedekiah to enquire of Jeremiah. By this time Babylon had laid siege to Jerusalem. Now instead of Jeremiah going to the king or the people with a message from the Lord and being ridiculed or beaten because of that message, the king went to Jeremiah to seek a message from the Lord, hoping it would be favorable. Does this mean the king recognized Jeremiah as a true prophet of God? It would seem so. In that case, why did he not take seriously the messages Jeremiah had been giving him prior to this time? Maybe the king didn't recognize Jeremiah as a true prophet until he saw the Babylonian army outside the city gates and realized that what Jeremiah had been telling him had come to pass? Whatever the case, the tables had turned and the king was taking Jeremiah seriously.
The message Jeremiah gave the king's messengers is not what the king wants to hear. Instead of God fighting against Judah's enemy, God was going to fight against Judah, turning their own weapons against them. With the city under siege, plague would break out among the people killing many. Many others who escaped the plague would die from lack of food. But those who survived both plague and famine will not rejoice for the Babylonians will either put them to the sword or take them into captivity. However, the Lord offered a choice between life and death. If they chose life, they would have to leave the city and surrender to the enemy. Those choosing death would stay in the city. All staying in the city would die. Some would boast that the city was impenetrable, but God told them He was against them and the city was not safe.
Even as hopeless as the situation seemed, it appears that God held out a ray of hope. To the king, referring to him as "House of David," the Lord said, "Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor, or My anger will flare up like fire and burn unquenchably because of their evil deeds." (21:12) This seems to be an offer of hope that God would yet turn away their destruction if the king would start doing what was right.
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