Jeremiah 4:6

4:6 Raise a signal flag that tells people to go to Zion. ¹ 

Run for safety! Do not delay!

For I am about to bring disaster out of the north.

It will bring great destruction. ² 

Jeremiah 4:18

4:18 “The way you have lived and the things you have done ³ 

will bring this on you.

This is the punishment you deserve, and it will be painful indeed. ⁴ 

The pain will be so bad it will pierce your heart.” ⁵ 

Jeremiah 6:13

6:13 “That is because, from the least important to the most important of them,

all of them are greedy for dishonest gain.

Prophets and priests alike,

all of them practice deceit.

Jeremiah 7:9

7:9 You steal. ⁶  You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to ⁷  other gods whom you have not previously known.

Jeremiah 15:18

15:18 Why must I continually suffer such painful anguish?

Why must I endure the sting of their insults like an incurable wound?

Will you let me down when I need you

like a brook one goes to for water, but that cannot be relied on?” ⁸ 

Jeremiah 21:11

Warnings to the Royal Court

21:11 The Lord told me to say ⁹  to the royal court ¹⁰  of Judah,

“Listen to what the Lord says,

Jeremiah 22:16

22:16 He upheld the cause of the poor and needy.

So things went well for Judah.’ ¹¹ 

The Lord says,

‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’ ¹² 

Jeremiah 23:21

23:21 I did not send those prophets.

Yet they were in a hurry to give their message. ¹³ 

I did not tell them anything.

Yet they prophesied anyway.

Jeremiah 50:8

50:8 “People of Judah, ¹⁴  get out of Babylon quickly!

Leave the land of Babylonia! ¹⁵ 

Be the first to depart! ¹⁶ 

Be like the male goats that lead the herd.

¹ tn Heb “Raise up a signal toward Zion.”

² tn Heb “out of the north, even great destruction.”

³ tn Heb “Your way and your deeds.”

⁴ tn Heb “How bitter!”

⁵ tn Heb “Indeed, it reaches to your heart.” The subject must be the pain alluded to in the last half of the preceding line; the verb is masculine, agreeing with the adjective translated “painful.” The only other possible antecedent “punishment” is feminine.

⁵ tn Heb “Will you steal…then say, ‘We are safe’?” Verses 9-10 are one long sentence in the Hebrew text.

⁶ tn Heb “You go/follow after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.

⁷ tn Heb “Will you be to me like a deceptive (brook), like waters which do not last [or are not reliable].”

⁹ tn The words “The Lord told me to say” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation for clarity. This text has been treated in two very different ways depending upon how one views the connection of the words “and to/concerning the household of the King of Judah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord:…’” with the preceding and following. Some treat the words that follow as a continuation of Jeremiah’s response to the delegation sent by Zedekiah (cf. vv. 3, 8). Others treat this as introducing a new set of oracles parallel to those in 23:9-40 which are introduced by the heading “to/concerning the prophets.” There are three reasons why this is the more probable connection: (1) the parallelism in expression with 23:9; (2) the other introductions in vv. 3, 8 use the preposition אֶל (’el) instead of לְ (lÿ) used here, and they have the formal introduction “you shall say…”; (3) the warning or challenge here would mitigate the judgment pronounced on the king and the city in vv. 4-7. Verses 8-9 are different. They are not a mitigation but an offer of escape for those who surrender. Hence, these words are a title “Now concerning the royal court.” (The vav [ו] that introduces this is disjunctive = “Now.”) However, since the imperative that follows is masculine plural and addressed to the royal house, something needs to be added to introduce it. Hence the translation supplies “The Lord told me to say” to avoid confusion or mistakenly connecting it with the preceding.

¹⁰ tn Heb “house” or “household.” It is clear from 22:1-6 that this involved the King, the royal family, and the court officials.

¹¹ tn The words “for Judah” are not in the text, but the absence of the preposition plus object as in the preceding verse suggests that this is a more general statement, i.e., “things went well for everyone.”

¹² tn Heb “Is that not what it means to know me.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer. It is translated in the light of the context.

¹³ tn Heb “Yet they ran.”

¹⁵ tn The words “People of Judah” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context. They have been supplied in the translation to clarify the subject of the address.

¹⁶ tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

¹⁷ tn The words “Be the first to leave” are not in the text but spell out the significance of the simile that follows. They have been supplied in the translation for clarity.