Yeremia 6:16-17

6:16 The Lord said to his people: ¹ 

“You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. ² 

Ask where the old, reliable paths ³  are.

Ask where the path is that leads to blessing ⁴  and follow it.

If you do, you will find rest for your souls.”

But they said, “We will not follow it!”

6:17 The Lord said, ⁵ 

“I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you, ⁶  saying:

‘Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!’” ⁷ 

But they said, “We will not pay attention!”

Yeremia 7:24

7:24 But they did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They followed the stubborn inclinations of their own wicked hearts. They acted worse and worse instead of better. ⁸ 

Yeremia 13:10

13:10 These wicked people refuse to obey what I have said. ⁹  They follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts and pay allegiance ¹⁰  to other gods by worshiping and serving them. So ¹¹  they will become just like these linen shorts which are good for nothing.

Yeremia 26:5-6

26:5 You must pay attention to the exhortations of my servants the prophets. I have sent them to you over and over again. ¹²  But you have not paid any attention to them. 26:6 If you do not obey me, ¹³  then I will do to this temple what I did to Shiloh. ¹⁴  And I will make this city an example to be used in curses by people from all the nations on the earth.’”

Yeremia 35:15

35:15 I sent all my servants the prophets to warn you over and over again. They said, “Every one of you, stop doing the evil things you have been doing and do what is right. ¹⁵  Do not pay allegiance to other gods ¹⁶  and worship them. Then you can continue to live in this land that I gave to you and your ancestors.” But you did not pay any attention or listen to me.

Yeremia 36:31

36:31 I will punish him and his descendants and the officials who serve him for the wicked things they have done. ¹⁷  I will bring on them, the citizens of Jerusalem, ¹⁸  and the people of Judah all the disaster that I threatened to do to them. I will punish them because I threatened them but they still paid no heed.”’” ¹⁹ 

Yeremia 44:16

44:16 “We will not listen to what you claim the Lord has spoken to us! ²⁰ 

[6:16]  ¹ tn The words, “to his people” are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

[6:16]  ² tn Heb “Stand at the crossroads and look.”

[6:16]  ³ tn Heb “the ancient path,” i.e., the path the Lord set out in ancient times (cf. Deut 32:7).

[6:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “the way of/to the good.”

[6:17]  ⁵ tn These words are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

[6:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “I appointed watchmen over you.”

[6:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet.” The word “warning” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[7:24]  ⁸ tn Or “They went backward and not forward”; Heb “They were to the backward and not to the forward.” The two phrases used here appear nowhere else in the Bible and the latter preposition plus adverb elsewhere is used temporally meaning “formerly” or “previously.” The translation follows the proposal of J. Bright, Jeremiah (AB), 57. Another option is “they turned their backs to me, not their faces,” understanding the line as a variant of a line in 2:27.

[13:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “to listen to my words.”

[13:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and [they follow] after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

[13:10]  ¹¹ tn The structure of this verse is a little unusual. It consists of a subject, “this wicked people” qualified by several “which” clauses preceding a conjunction and a form which would normally be taken as a third person imperative (a Hebrew jussive; וִיהִי, vihi). This construction, called casus pendens by Hebrew grammarians, lays focus on the subject, here calling attention to the nature of Israel’s corruption which makes it rotten and useless to God. See GKC 458 §143.d for other examples of this construction.

[26:5]  ¹² tn See the translator’s note on 7:13 for the idiom here.

[26:6]  ¹³ tn 26:4-6 are all one long sentence containing a long condition with subordinate clauses (vv. 4-5) and a compound consequence in v. 6: Heb “If you will not obey me by walking in my law…by paying attention to the words of the prophets which…and you did not pay heed, then I will make…and I will make…” The sentence has been broken down in conformity to contemporary English style but an attempt has been made to reflect all the subordinations in the English translation.

[26:6]  ¹⁴ sn See the study note on Jer 7:13.

[35:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Turn, each of you, from his [= your] wicked way and make good your deeds.” Compare 18:11 where the same idiom occurs with the added term of “make good your ways.”

[35:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Don’t go after/follow other gods.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom and see 11:10; 13:10; 25:6 for the same idiom.

[36:31]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for their iniquity.”

[36:31]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[36:31]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “all the disaster which I spoke against them and they did not listen [or obey].”

[44:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the word [or message] you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord.” For an explanation of the rendering of “in the name of the Lord” see the study notes on 10:25 and 23:27.