Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 258
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IMMERSE
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PROPHETS
20:14–21:10
Yet I curse the day I was born!
May no one celebrate the day of my birth.
I curse the messenger who told my father,
“Good news—you have a son!”
Let him be destroyed like the cities of old
that the Lord overthrew without mercy.
Terrify him all day long with battle shouts,
because he did not kill me at birth.
Oh, that I had died in my mother’s womb,
that her body had been my grave!
Why was I ever born?
My entire life has been filled
with trouble, sorrow, and shame.
The Lord spoke through Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur
son of Malkijah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, to speak
with him. They begged Jeremiah, “Please speak to the Lord for us and
ask him to help us. King Nebuc hadnezzar of Babylon is attacking Judah.
Perhaps the Lord will be gracious and do a mighty miracle as he has
done in the past. Perhaps he will force Nebuchadnezzar to withdraw
his armies.”
Jeremiah replied, “Go back to King Zedekiah and tell him, ‘This is
what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will make your weapons use
less against the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who are outside
your walls attacking you. In fact, I will bring your enemies right into the
heart of this city. I myself will fight against you with a strong hand and
a powerful arm, for I am very angry. You have made me furious! I will
send a terrible plague upon this city, and both people and animals will
die. And after all that, says the Lord, I will hand over King Zedekiah,
his staff, and everyone else in the city who survives the disease, war, and
famine. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and
to their other enemies. He will slaughter them and show them no mercy,
pity, or compassion.’
“Tell all the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Take your choice of
life or death! Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine,
or disease, but those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians will
live. Their reward will be life! For I have decided to bring disaster and not
good upon this city, says the Lord. It will be handed over to the king of
Babylon, and he will reduce it to ashes.’
