Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

JEREMIAH 27:13KJV
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Jeremiah 27:13 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 27:13 mean?

Jeremiah 27:13 is a warning to Judah’s king that resisting Babylon will bring deadly consequences for him and his people. Jeremiah presents submission to Babylon as the way to avoid the sword, famine, and disease that the LORD has warned will come against a nation that refuses to serve Babylon’s king.

Jeremiah puts the warning as a question: “Why will ye die?” The question presses King Zedekiah to consider the cost of resistance, following Jeremiah’s call in verse 12 to serve the king of Babylon.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 27:13

  • “serve” — עָבַד (ʿavad): This word can mean to work for or serve someone. Here it describes a nation living under the authority of Babylon’s king, not necessarily each person working for him.
  • “nation” — גּוֹי (goy): This word means a nation or people. The warning to Zedekiah rests on a wider statement about any nation that refuses Babylon’s rule.

Why Jeremiah 27:13 matters

  • The warning names several kinds of suffering, not just defeat in battle. “Sword,” “famine,” and “pestilence” point to violence, lack of food, and widespread disease.
  • Jeremiah’s question places the king and his people together in the danger. The words “thou and thy people” show that the ruler’s response has consequences beyond himself.
  • Jeremiah presents the warning as the LORD’s message, not merely his own judgment about politics. He says these consequences are “as the LORD hath spoken.”

Where else these words appear

“pestilence” Hebrew H1698 · used in 48 verses

  • Exodus 5:3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.
  • Psalms 91:3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
  • Jeremiah 42:22 Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.

“famine” Hebrew H7458 · used in 88 verses

  • Genesis 12:10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
  • 2 Kings 25:3 And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
  • Jeremiah 32:24 Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it.