Jeremiah 21 (WEB)

Jeremiah 21

¹ The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying,

² “Please inquire of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against us. Perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may withdraw from us.”

³ Then Jeremiah said to them, “Tell Zedekiah:

⁴ ‘The LORD, the God of Israel says, “Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls; and I will gather them into the middle of this city.

⁵ I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation.

⁶ I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and animal. They will die of a great pestilence.

⁷ Afterward,” says the LORD, “I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants, and the people, even those who are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. He will strike them with the edge of the sword. He will not spare them, have pity, or have mercy.”’

⁸ “You shall say to this people, ‘The LORD says: “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.

⁹ He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, but he who goes out and passes over to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he will live, and he will escape with his life.

¹⁰ For I have set my face on this city for evil, and not for good,” says the LORD. “It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.”’

¹¹ “Concerning the house of the king of Judah, hear the LORD’s word:

¹² House of David, the LORD says, ‘Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my wrath go out like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

¹³ Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, and of the rock of the plain,’ says the LORD. ‘You that say, “Who would come down against us?” or, “Who would enter into our homes?”

¹⁴ 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 will devour all that is around her.’”

Around Jeremiah 21

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

About Jeremiah as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

Before Jeremiah can speak, God has already spoken of him: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” That is how the book tells his calling, and the calling is heavy. He prophesied in Judah’s last decades, up to and beyond the destruction of Jerusalem. He calls the people to turn back to God, and he warns that the temple will not protect them. Kings, priests and other prophets oppose him. The book lets us hear his own anguished prayers, so that we see not only the message but the man who had to carry it.

In the middle of the warnings stands a promise. God says he will make “a new covenant”, and of his law he says, “I will write it in their heart” (31:31 to 34).

Background

Jeremiah’s ministry ran from about 627 to after 586 before Christ. His scribe Baruch wrote down his words. The book is not in time order, so a reader should expect to move back and forth across those years. The ancient Greek version is shorter than the Hebrew and arranged differently, and it shows that the book itself was handed down with care.

How Christians read it

The promise of a new covenant is taken up at the Last Supper and quoted in full in Hebrews 8. Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the most quoted verses in the Bible. In its setting it is addressed to a whole people in exile and comes with the news that they will stay there for seventy years, which guards against reading it as a promise of quick relief.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 20 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

Report a mistake

CommunityVoices, not sources

Readers share what this chapter means to them in the app.

See what readers say about Jeremiah 21