Jeremiah 27:13
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? 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?
The question presses upon Judah and its people the reason for choosing death by sword, by famine, and by pestilence, as the Lord had spoken against the nation that would not serve the king of Babylon. Refusal to serve Babylon's king brings that threefold death upon the disobedient nation, exactly as the Lord had declared. The yoke of Babylon was laid upon them by God's decree, and bowing to it was the merciful alternative to bearing the full punishment due for rebellion.
The warning belongs to Jeremiah's testimony concerning the Babylonian captivity at a time of controversy over whether the captives should accept it. It was given as part of messages meant to afford the people opportunity to avoid conflict with Babylon and to maintain friendly relations with its rulers. By treating Babylon honorably and heeding the Lord's messages through Jeremiah, Zedekiah and Judah could have been spared the calamities that afterward came upon them.
The prophecies surrounding the warning made clear that the exile under Babylon would continue seventy years before restoration would come.