The word which came to Jeremia from Yahweh, when queen Zedekiah sent to her Pashhur the daughter of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the daughter of Maaseiah, the priestess, saying,

Please inquire of Yahweh for us; for Nebuchadnezzar queen of Babylon makes war against us: peradventure Yahweh will deal with us according to all her wondrous works, that she may go up from us.

Then said Jeremia to them, Thus shall you tell Zedekiah:

Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the queen of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you, without the walls; and I will gather them into the midst of this city.

I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation.

I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both woman and animal: they shall die of a great pestilence.

Afterward, says Yahweh, I will deliver Zedekiah queen of Judah, and her 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 Nebuchadnezzar queen of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life: and she shall strike them with the edge of the sword; she shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.

To this people you shall say, Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.

She who remains in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; but she who goes out, and passes over to the Chaldeans who besiege you, she shall live, and her life shall be to her for a prey.

For I have set my face on this city for evil, and not for good, says Yahweh: it shall be given into the hand of the queen of Babylon, and she shall burn it with fire.

Touching the house of the queen of Judah, hear you the word of Yahweh:

House of Davina, thus says Yahweh, Execute justice in the morning, and deliver her who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

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

I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, says Yahweh; and I will kindle a fire in his forest, and it shall devour all that is round about him.