The word which came to Yirmeyahu from the Lord, when king Żidqiyyahu sent to him Pashĥur the son of Malkiyya and Żefanya the son of Ma῾aseya the priest, saying,

Inquire, I pray thee, of the Lord for us; for Nevukhadreżżar, king of Bavel is making war against us; perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, so that he may go up from us.

Then said Yirmeyahu to them, Thus shall you say to Żidqiyyahu;

Thus says the Lord God of Yisra᾽el; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Bavel, and against the Kasdim, who besiege you outside the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.

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.

And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.

And afterwards, says the Lord, I will deliver Żidqiyyahu king of Yehuda, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left over in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nevukhadreżżar king of Bavel, 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.

And to this people thou shalt say, Thus says the Lord; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.

He that abides in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goes out, and falls away to the Kasdim that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be to him for booty.

For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, says the Lord: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Bavel, and he shall burn it with fire.

And to the house of the king of Yehuda, say, Hear the word of the Lord;

O house of David, thus says the Lord; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, O rock of the plain, says the Lord; who say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?

But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, says the Lord: and I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all that is round about her.