Chapter 15

Judgment Must Come

1 Then the Lord said to me, “Even athough bMoses and cSamuel were to dstand before Me, My 1heart would not be 2with this people; esend them away from My presence and let them go!

2 “And it shall be that when they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you are to tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord:

“Those destined afor death, to death;

And those destined for the sword, to the sword;

And those destined for famine, to famine;

And those destined for captivity, to captivity.” ’

3 “I will aappoint over them four kinds of doom,” declares the Lord: “the sword to slay, the bdogs to drag off, and the cbirds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.

4 “I will amake them an object of horror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of bManasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.

5 “Indeed, who will have apity on you, O Jerusalem,

Or who will bmourn for you,

Or who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?

6 “You who have aforsaken Me,” declares the Lord,

“You keep bgoing backward.

So I will cstretch out My hand against you and destroy you;

I am dtired of relenting!

7 “I will awinnow them with a winnowing fork

At the gates of the land;

I will bbereave them of children, I will destroy My people;

cThey did not 1repent of their ways.

8 “Their awidows will be more numerous before Me

Than the sand of the seas;

I will bring against them, against the mother of a young man,

A bdestroyer at noonday;

I will suddenly bring down on her

Anguish and dismay.

9 “She who abore seven sons pines away;

1Her breathing is labored.

Her bsun has set while it was yet day;

She has been cshamed and humiliated.

So I will dgive over their survivors to the sword

Before their enemies,” declares the Lord.

10 aWoe to me, my mother, that you have borne me

As a bman of strife and a man of contention to all the land!

I have not clent, nor have men lent money to me,

Yet everyone curses me.

11 The Lord said, “Surely I will aset you free for purposes of good;

Surely I will cause the benemy to make supplication to you

In a time of disaster and a time of distress.

12 “Can anyone smash iron,

aIron from the north, or bronze?

13 “Your awealth and your treasures

I will give for booty bwithout cost,

Even for all your sins

And within all your borders.

14 “Then I will cause your enemies to bring 1it

Into a aland you do not know;

For a bfire has been kindled in My anger,

It will burn upon you.”

Jeremiah’s Prayer and God’s Answer

15 aYou who know, O Lord,

Remember me, take notice of me,

And btake vengeance for me on my persecutors.

Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away;

Know that cfor Your sake I endure reproach.

16 Your words were found and I aate them,

And Your bwords became for me a joy and the delight of my heart;

For I have been ccalled by Your name,

O Lord God of hosts.

17 I adid not sit in the circle of merrymakers,

Nor did I exult.

Because of Your hand upon me I sat balone,

For You cfilled me with indignation.

18 Why has my pain been perpetual

And my awound incurable, refusing to be healed?

Will You indeed be to me blike a deceptive stream

With water that is unreliable?

19 Therefore, thus says the Lord,

“aIf you return, then I will restore you—

bBefore Me you will stand;

And cif you extract the precious from the worthless,

You will become 1My spokesman.

They for their part may turn to you,

But as for you, you must not turn to them.

20 “Then I will amake you to this people

A fortified wall of bronze;

And though they fight against you,

They will not prevail over you;

For bI am with you to save you

And deliver you,” declares the Lord.

21 “So I will adeliver you from the hand of the wicked,

And I will bredeem you from the 1grasp of the violent.”