Jeremiah 13:15–15:9
you must not be haughty, for Yahweh has spoken.
16 Give glory to Yahweh your God ⌊before⌋l he brings darkness,
and ⌊before⌋m your feet stumble on the mountains at twilight.
And you will hope for light, but he makes it as gloom,
he makes itn as thick darkness.
17 But if you will not listen to it,
my inner selfo will weep in secret places,
because of ⌊the presence of⌋p your pride.
And my eyesq will weep bitterly,
and they will melt in tears,
because the flock of Yahweh has been taken captive.
A Message for the King and the Queen Mother
18 “Say to the king and to the queen mother, ‘⌊Take a lower seat⌋,r
for ⌊your beautiful crown⌋s has come down from your head.’t
19 The towns of the Negev are shut up,
and there is no one who opens them.u
All of Judah is deported;
it is deported in completeness.
and see those coming from the north.
Where is the flock that was given to you,
⌊your magnificent flock⌋?v
21 What will you say when he sets over you—
and you have taught them—allies as head over you?
Will not labor pains take hold of you,
like a woman giving birth?
22 And if you say in your heart,
‘Why have these things happened to me?’
Because of the greatness of your iniquity your skirts are uncovered;
your heels have endured violence.
23 Can a Cushite change his skin,
or a leopard his spots?
Then you also will be able to do good,
who are accustomed to doing evil.
like stubble scattered by the wind of the desert.w
the portion of your measure from me,” ⌊declares⌋x Yahweh,
“because you have forgotten me,
and you have trusted in the lie.
26 So in turn I will bare your skirts over your face,
and your shame will become visible.
27 Your adulteries, and your neighings,
the shameful behavior of your fornications
on the hills in the countryside,
I have seen your abominations.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
⌊How long will you continue to be unclean⌋?y”
14 That which came as the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah concerning the mattera of the severe drought.
2 “Judah mourns, and her gates languish,
they are in mourning on the ground,
and the cry of lament of Jerusalem goes up.
3 And their nobles send their servants for water.
They come to the pits, they find no water.
They return with their vessels ⌊empty⌋.b
They are ashamed, and they are confounded,
and they cover their heads.c
4 Because of the ground, which is cracked
because there was no rain on the ground.
The farmers are ashamed,
they cover their heads.d
5 For even the doe in the field gives birth and forsakes her young,e
because there is no green growth.
6 And wild asses stand on the barren heights,
they gasp for breath like the jackals.
Their eyes fail
because there is no vegetation.”
7 Although our iniquities testify against us, O Yahweh,
act for the sake of your name.
Yes, our apostasies are many;
we have sinned against you.
its savior in time of distress.
Why should you be like an alien in the land,
or like a traveler who spreads out his tent f to spend the night?
9 Why should you be like a confused man,
like a warrior who is not able to help?
Yet you are in our midst, O Yahweh,
and your name is called upon us.
You must not leave us!
10 Thus says Yahweh concerning this people:
“They have loved so much to wander,
they have not spared their feet.
Therefore Yahweh is not favorable to them,
now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.”
11 So Yahweh said to me, “You must not pray for this people, for their happiness.g 12 Although they fast, I am not listening to their cry of entreaty. And although they present burnt offering and grain offering, I am not favorable to them. But by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague, I am about to destroy them.” 13 Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh, look, the prophets are saying to them, ‘You will not see the sword, and famine will not be yours, but reliable peace I will give to you in this place.’ ” 14 And Yahweh said to me, “The prophets are prophesying liesh in my name. I have not sent them, and I have not commanded them, and I have not spoken to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, and a divination, worthless, and the deceitfulness of their ⌊minds⌋.”i 15 ⌊Therefore⌋j thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who prophecy in my name though I have not sent them, yet they are saying, “Sword and famine will not be in this land.” “By the sword and by the famine those prophets will perish. 16 And the people to whom they are prophesying will be cast out into the streets of Jerusalem ⌊because of⌋k the famine and the sword. And there will be no one who buries them, their wives, or their sons, or their daughters. And I will pour out on them their wickedness.
17 “And you shall say to them this word,
‘Let my eyes melt with tears night and day,
and let them not cease,
for with a great wound the virgin daughter of my people is broken,
with a very incurable wound.
18 If I go out into the field,
then look, those slain by the sword.
And if I enter the city,
then look, the sickness of the famine.
For both prophet and priest wander around through the land,
⌊they do not know what is going on⌋.’ ”l
19 Have you completely rejected Judah?
Or has your soulm loathed Zion?
Why have you struck us
so that there is no healing for us?
We hope for peace, but there is no good,
and for a time of healing, but look, there is terror.
20 We know, O Yahweh, our wickedness,
the iniquity of our ancestors,n
for we have sinned against you.
21 You must not spurn uso for the sake of your name,
you must not dishonor ⌊your glorious throne⌋.p
Remember us!q
You must not break your covenant with us.
22 Are there any among the idols of the nation who cause rain to pour?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Is it not you, O Yahweh our God?
Therefore, we hope in you, for you do all these things.
15 Then Yahweh said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood ⌊before me⌋,a my heart would not be to this people. Send them away from my ⌊sight⌋,b and let them go out. 2 ⌊And then⌋c if they say to you, ‘Where shall we go?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh,
“Those who are destined for the plague, to the plague,
and those who are destined for the sword, to the sword,
and those who are destined for the famine, to the famine,
and those who are destined for the captivity, to the captivity.” ’
3 “And I will summond over them four types of calamity,” ⌊declares⌋e Yahweh, “the sword to kill, and the dogs to drag away, and the birdsf of the air and the wild animalsg of the earth to devour and to destroy. 4 And I will make them a terror to all of the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, because of what he did in Jerusalem.
5 “For who will have compassion on you, O Jerusalem,
or who will show sympathy to you,
or who will turn aside ⌊to ask about your welfare⌋?h
6 You have forsaken me,” ⌊declares⌋i Yahweh.
“You go backward, so I have stretched my hand against you,
and I have destroyed you.
I am tired of becoming remorseful.
7 And I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork in the gates of the land.
I am bereaved.
I have destroyed my people.
They did not turn back from their ways.
8 Their widowsj will be more numerous before me than the sand of the seas.
I have brought to them, against the mothersk of young men,l
a destroyer at noon.
I will suddenly drop on her anguish and horror.m
9 She who gave birth to seven has withered away.
She gasps her breath.
Her sun ⌊set⌋n while still day.
She has been put to shame and disgraced.
And the remainder of them I will give to the sword