Jeremiah 15–17

The Lord’s Negative Response

15Then the Lord said to me: “Even if ^gMoses and ^hSamuel should ⁱstand before Me, ^jMy compassions would not reach out to these people. Send them from My presence, and let them go. ^k2If they ask you, ‘Where will we go?’ you must tell them: This is what the Lord says:

Those destined for death, ^lto 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 ^mof judgment for them”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, ⁿand the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the land ^oto devour and destroy. ⁴I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh ^pson of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.

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

Who will show sympathy toward you? ^r

Who will turn aside

to ask about your welfare?

⁶You have left Me. ^s

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 ^tof showing compassion.

⁷I scattered them with a winnowing fork

at the gates of the land.

I made them childless; I destroyed My people.

They would not turn from their ways. ^u

⁸I made their widows more numerous

than the sand of the seas. ^v

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; ^w

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, ^x

a man who incites dispute and conflict

in all the land.

I did not lend or borrow,

yet everyone curses me. ^y

The Lord’s Response

¹¹The Lord said:

I will certainly set you free and care for you. ^z

I will certainly intercede for you

in a time of trouble,

in your time of distress, with the enemy.

¹²Can anyone smash iron,

iron from the north, or bronze?

¹³I will give up your wealth

and your treasures as plunder,

without cost, ^afor 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. ^c

Jeremiah’s Prayer for Vengeance

¹⁵You know, ^dLord;

remember me and take note of me. ^e

Avenge me against my persecutors. ^f

In Your patience, ^gdon’t take me away.

Know that I suffer disgrace for Your honor. ^h

¹⁶Your words were found, and I ate them. ⁱ

Your words became a delight to me

and the joy of my heart,

for I am called by Your name, ^j

Yahweh God of Hosts.

¹⁷I never sat with the band of revelers,

and I did not celebrate with them.

Because Your hand was on me, I sat alone, ^k

for You filled me with indignation.

¹⁸Why has my pain become unending,

my wound incurable, ^l

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 restore you;

you will stand in My presence.

And if you speak noble words,

rather than worthless ones,

you will be My spokesman. ^m

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 deliver you. ⁿ

This is the Lord’s declaration.

²¹I will deliver you from the power of evil people

and redeem you from the control of the ruthless.

No Marriage for Jeremiah

16The word of the Lord came to me: ²“You must 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 face of the earth. ^oThey 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. ^p

⁵“For this is what the Lord says: Don’t enter a house where a mourning feast is taking place. ^qDon’t go to lament or sympathize with them, for I have removed My peace from these people”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“as well as My faithful love and compassion. ^r6Both great and small will die in this land without burial. No lament will be made for them, nor will anyone cut himself or ^sshave his head for them. ^t7Food won’t be provided for the mourner ^uto comfort him because of the dead. A cup of consolation won’t be given him because of the loss of his father or mother. ⁸You must not enter the house where feasting is taking place to sit with them to eat and drink. ⁹For this is what the Lord of Hosts, 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. ^v

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 great disaster against us? ^wWhat is our guilt? What is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ ¹¹Then you will answer them: Because your fathers abandoned Me” ^x—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and followed other gods, served them, and worshiped them. ^yIndeed, they abandoned Me and did not keep My instruction. ¹²You did more evil than your fathers. ^zLook, 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 fathers are not familiar with. ^aThere you will worship other gods ^bboth day and night, for I will not grant you grace. ^c

¹⁴“However, take note! The days are coming” ^d—the Lord’s declaration—“when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’ ^e15but rather, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of the north ^fand from all the other lands where He had banished them.’ For I will return them to their land that I gave to their ancestors. ^g

Punishment of Exile

¹⁶“I am about to send for many fishermen” ^h—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. ⁱThey are not concealed from Me, and their guilt is not hidden from My sight. ¹⁸I will first repay them double for their guilt ^jand sin because they have polluted My land. They have filled My inheritance with the lifelessness of their detestable and abhorrent idols.”

¹⁹Lord, my strength and my stronghold,

my refuge in a time of distress, ^k

the nations will come to You

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

“Our fathers inherited only lies,

worthless idols ^lof no benefit at all.”

²⁰Can one make gods for himself?

But they are not gods. ^m

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 Yahweh.” ⁿ

The Persistent Sin of Judah

17The sin of Judah is written

with an iron stylus. ^o

With a diamond point

it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts ^p

and on the horns of their ^qaltars,

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 ^t

in all your borders. ^u

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, ^v

for you have set My anger on fire; ^w

it will burn forever.

Curse and Blessing

⁵This is what the Lord says:

The man who trusts in mankind, ^x

who makes human flesh his strength ^y

and turns his heart from the Lord is cursed.

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

he cannot see when good comes

but dwells in the parched places in the wilderness,

in a salt land where no one lives. ^a

⁷The man who trusts in the Lord,

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

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

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, ^d

and incurable—who can understand it? ^e

¹⁰I, Yahweh, examine the mind,

I test the heart ^fg

to give to each according to his way,

according to what his actions deserve. ^h

¹¹He who makes a fortune unjustly

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

In the middle of his days

his riches will abandon him,

so in the end he will be a fool. ⁱ

¹²A throne of glory ^j

on high ^kfrom the beginning

is the place of our sanctuary. ^l

¹³Lord, the hope of Israel, ^m

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. ⁿ

Jeremiah’s Plea

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

save me, and I will be saved,

for You are my praise. ^o

¹⁵Hear how they keep challenging me, ^p

“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. ^q

You know my words were spoken in Your presence.

¹⁷Don’t become a terror to me.

You are my refuge ^rin the day of disaster.

¹⁸Let my persecutors be put to shame, ^s

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; ^t

shatter them with total ^udestruction.

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:…