Jeremiah 15:1–21
15 Then the Lord said to me, a“Even if bMoses and cSamuel stood before Me, My 1mind would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth. 2 And it shall be, if they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you shall tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord:
d“Such as are for death, to death;
And such as are for the sword, to the sword;
And such as are for the famine, to the famine;
And such as are for the ecaptivity, to the captivity.” ’
3 “And I will fappoint over them four forms of destruction,” says the Lord: “the sword to slay, the dogs to drag, gthe birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 I will hand them over to htrouble, to all kingdoms of the earth, because of iManasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.
5 “For who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem?
Or who will bemoan you?
Or who will turn aside to ask how you are doing?
6 jYou have forsaken Me,” says the Lord,
“You have kgone backward.
Therefore I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you;
7 And I will winnow them with a winnowing fan in the gates of the land;
I will mbereave them of children;
I will destroy My people,
Since they ndo not return from their ways.
8 Their widows will be increased to Me more than the sand of the seas;
I will bring against them,
Against the mother of the young men,
A plunderer at noonday;
I will cause anguish and terror to fall on them osuddenly.
9 “She planguishes who has borne seven;
She has breathed her last;
qHer sun has gone down
While it was yet day;
She has been ashamed and confounded.
And the remnant of them I will deliver to the sword
Before their enemies,” says the Lord.
10 rWoe is me, my mother,
That you have borne me,
A man of strife and a man of contention to the whole 3earth!
I have neither lent for interest,
Nor have men lent to me for interest.
Every one of them curses me.
“Surely it will be well with your remnant;
Surely I will cause sthe enemy to intercede with you
In the time of adversity and in the time of affliction.
The northern iron and the bronze?
13 Your wealth and your treasures
I will give as tplunder without price,
Because of all your sins,
Throughout your territories.
14 And I will 4make you cross over with your enemies
uInto a land which you do not know;
For a vfire is kindled in My anger,
Which shall burn upon you.”
15 O Lord, wYou know;
Remember me and 5visit me,
And xtake vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In Your enduring patience, do not take me away.
Know that yfor Your sake I have suffered rebuke.
16 Your words were found, and I zate them,
And aYour word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;
For I am called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts.
17 bI did not sit in the assembly of the mockers,
Nor did I rejoice;
I sat alone because of Your hand,
For You have filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my cpain perpetual
And my wound incurable,
Which refuses to be healed?
Will You surely be to me dlike an unreliable stream,
As waters that 6fail?
19 Therefore thus says the Lord:
e“If you return,
Then I will bring you back;
You shall fstand before Me;
If you gtake out the precious from the vile,
You shall be as My mouth.
Let them return to you,
But you must not return to them.
20 And I will make you to this people a fortified bronze hwall;
And they will fight against you,
But ithey shall not prevail against you;
For I am with you to save you
And deliver you,” says the Lord.
21 “I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,
And I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible.”