Jeremiah 21:10

21:10 For I, the Lord, say that ¹  I am determined not to deliver this city but to bring disaster on it. ²  It will be handed over to the king of Babylon and he will destroy it with fire.’” ³ 

Jeremiah 39:17

39:17 But I will rescue you when it happens. ⁴  I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁵  You will not be handed over to those whom you fear. ⁶ 

[21:10]  ¹ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[21:10]  ² tn Heb “I have set my face against this city for evil [i.e., disaster] and not for good [i.e., well-being].” For the use of the idiom “set one’s face against/toward” see, e.g., usage in 1 Kgs 2:15; 2 Kgs 2:17; Jer 42:15, 17 and note the interesting interplay of usage in Jer 44:11-12.

[21:10]  ³ tn Heb “he will burn it with fire.”

[39:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “But I will rescue you on that day” (referring to the same day mentioned in the preceding verse).

[39:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[39:17]  ⁶ sn Some commentators see this as a reference to the princes from whose clutches Ebed-Melech delivered Jeremiah (38:7-13). However, it is clear that in this context it refers to those that he would fear when the Lord brings about the threatened disaster, i.e., the Babylonians who are attacking the city.