Jeremiah 15–17

THE LORD’S NEGATIVE RESPONSE

15Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel^* should stand before me,^o my compassions would not reach out to these people. Send them from my presence, and let them go.^{p 2}If they ask you, ‘Where will we go?’ tell them: This is what the Lord says:

Those destined for death,^q to death;

those destined for the sword, to the sword.

Those destined for famine, to famine;

those destined for captivity, to captivity.

³“I will ordain four kinds^A of judgment for them”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away,^r and the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the land^s to devour and destroy. ⁴I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh^t son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.

⁵Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem?^u

Who will show sympathy toward you?^v

Who will turn aside

to ask about your well-being?

⁶You have left me.”^w

This is the Lord’s declaration.

“You have turned your back,

so I have stretched out my hand against you

and destroyed you.

I am tired^x of showing compassion.

⁷I scattered them with a winnowing fork

at the city gates of the land.

I made them childless; I destroyed my people.

They would not turn from their ways.^y

⁸I made their widows more numerous

than the sand of the seas.^z

I brought a destroyer at noon

against the mother of young men.

I suddenly released on her

agitation and terrors.

⁹The mother of seven grew faint;^aa

she breathed her last breath.

Her sun set while it was still day;

she was ashamed and humiliated.

The rest of them I will give over to the sword

in the presence of their enemies.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

JEREMIAH’S COMPLAINT

¹⁰Woe is me, my mother,

that you gave birth to me,^ab

a man who incites dispute and conflict

in all the land.

I did not lend or borrow,

yet everyone curses me.^ac

THE LORD’S RESPONSE

¹¹The Lord said:

Haven’t I set you loose for your good? Haven’t I punished you

in a time of trouble,

in a time of distress

with the enemy?^A

¹²Can anyone smash iron,

iron from the north, or bronze?

¹³I will give up your wealth

and your treasures as plunder,

without cost,^a for all your sins

in all your borders.

¹⁴Then I will make you serve your enemies^B

in a land you do not know,

for my anger will kindle a fire

that will burn against you.^b

JEREMIAH’S PRAYER FOR VENGEANCE

¹⁵You know,^c Lord;

remember me and take note of me.^d

Avenge me against my persecutors.^e

In your patience,^C don’t take me away.

Know that I suffer disgrace for your honor.^f

¹⁶Your words were found, and I ate them.^g

Your words became a delight to me

and the joy of my heart,

for I bear your name,^h

Lord God of Armies.

¹⁷I never sat with the band of revelers,

and I did not celebrate with them.

Because your hand was on me, I sat alone,ⁱ

for you filled me with indignation.

¹⁸Why has my pain become unending,

my wound incurable,^j

refusing to be healed?

You truly have become like a mirage to me—

water that is not reliable.

JEREMIAH TOLD TO REPENT

¹⁹Therefore, this is what the Lord says:

If you return, I will take you back;

you will stand in my presence.

And if you speak noble words,

rather than worthless ones,

you will be my spokesman.^k

It is they who must return to you;

you must not return to them.

²⁰Then I will make you a fortified wall of bronze

to this people.

They will fight against you

but will not overcome you,

for I am with you

to save you and rescue you.^l

This is the Lord’s declaration.

²¹I will rescue you from the power of evil people

and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.

NO MARRIAGE FOR JEREMIAH

16The word of the Lord came to me: ²“Do not marry or have sons or daughters in this place. ³For this is what the Lord says concerning sons and daughters born in this place as well as concerning the mothers who bear them and the fathers who father them in this land: ⁴They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like manure on the soil’s surface.^m They will be finished off by sword and famine. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.ⁿ

⁵“For this is what the Lord says: Don’t enter a house where a mourning feast is taking place.^A Don’t go to lament or sympathize with them, for I have removed my peace from these people as well as my faithful love and compassion.” This is the Lord’s declaration.^{o 6}“Both great and small will die in this land without burial. No lament will be made for them, nor will anyone cut himself or^p shave his head for them.^{B 7}Food won’t be provided for the mourner^q to comfort him because of the dead. A consoling drink won’t be given him for the loss of his father or mother. ⁸Do not enter the house where feasting is taking place to sit with them to eat and drink. ⁹For this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am about to eliminate from this place, before your very eyes and in your time, the sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the groom and the bride.^r

ABANDONING THE LORD AND HIS LAW

¹⁰“When you tell these people all these things, they will say to you, ‘Why has the Lord declared all this terrible disaster against us?^s What is our iniquity? What is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ ¹¹Then you will answer them, ‘Because your ancestors abandoned me^t—this is the Lord’s declaration—and followed other gods, served them, and bowed in worship to them.^a Indeed, they abandoned me and did not keep my instruction. ¹²You did more evil than your ancestors.^b Look, each one of you was following the stubbornness of his evil heart, not obeying me. ¹³So I will hurl you from this land into a land that you and your ancestors have not known.^c There you will worship other gods^d both day and night, for I will not grant you grace.’^C

¹⁴“However, look, the days are coming”^e—the Lord’s declaration—“when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’^{f 15}but rather, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of the north^g and from all the other lands where he had banished them.’ For I will return them to their land that I gave to their ancestors.^h

PUNISHMENT OF EXILE

¹⁶“I am about to send for many fishermen”ⁱ—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and they will fish for them. Then I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and out of the clefts of the rocks, ¹⁷for my gaze takes in all their ways.^j They are not concealed from me, and their iniquity is not hidden from my sight. ¹⁸I will first repay them double for their iniquity^k and sin because they have polluted my land. They have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their abhorrent and detestable idols.”

¹⁹Lord, my strength and my stronghold,

my refuge in a time of distress,^l

the nations will come to you

from the ends of the earth, and they will say,

“Our ancestors inherited only lies,

worthless idols^m of no benefit at all.”

²⁰Can one make gods for himself?

But they are not gods.ⁿ

²¹“Therefore, I am about to inform them,

and this time I will make them know

my power and my might;

then they will know that my name is the Lord.”^o

THE PERSISTENT SIN OF JUDAH

17The sin of Judah is inscribed

with an iron stylus.^p

With a diamond point

it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts^q

and on the horns of their^A altars,

²while their children remember their altars

and their Asherah poles, by the green trees

on the high hills^r—

³my mountains in the countryside.

I will give up your wealth

and all your treasures as plunder^s

because of the sin of your high places^B

in all your borders.^t

⁴You will, on your own, relinquish your inheritance

that I gave you.

I will make you serve your enemies

in a land you do not know,^u

for you have set my anger on fire;^v

it will burn forever.

CURSE AND BLESSING

⁵This is what the Lord says:

Cursed is the person who trusts in mankind.^w

He makes human flesh his strength,^x

and his heart turns from the Lord.

⁶He will be like a juniper in the Arabah;^y

he cannot see when good comes

but dwells in the parched places in the wilderness,

in a salt land where no one lives.^z

⁷The person who trusts in the Lord,

whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is blessed.^aa

⁸He will be like a tree planted by water:^ab

it sends its roots out toward a stream,

it doesn’t fear when heat comes,

and its foliage remains green.

It will not worry in a year of drought

or cease producing fruit.

THE DECEITFUL HEART

⁹The heart is more deceitful than anything else,^ac

and incurable—who can understand it?^ad

¹⁰I, the Lord, examine the mind,

I test the heart^Aae

to give to each according to his way,

according to what his actions deserve.^a

¹¹He who makes a fortune unjustly

is like a partridge that hatches eggs it didn’t lay.

In the middle of his life

his riches will abandon him,

so in the end he will be a fool.^b

¹²A glorious throne^c

on high^d from the beginning

is the place of our sanctuary.^e

¹³Lord, the hope of Israel,^f

all who abandon you

will be put to shame.

All who turn away from me

will be written in the dirt,

for they have abandoned

the Lord, the fountain of living water.^g

JEREMIAH’S PLEA

¹⁴Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;

save me, and I will be saved,

for you are my praise.^h

¹⁵Hear how they keep challenging me,ⁱ

“Where is the word of the Lord?

Let it come!”

¹⁶But I have not run away from being your shepherd,

and I have not longed for the fatal day.^j

You know my words were spoken in your presence.

¹⁷Don’t become a terror to me.

You are my refuge^k in the day of disaster.

¹⁸Let my persecutors be put to shame,^l

but don’t let me be put to shame.

Let them be terrified, but don’t let me be terrified.

Bring on them the day of disaster;^m

shatter them with total^B destruction.

OBSERVING THE SABBATH

¹⁹This is what the Lord said to me, “Go and stand at the People’s Gate, through which the kings of Judah enter and leave, as well as at all the gates of Jerusalem. ²⁰Announce to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord…