Yeremia 8:19

8:19 I hear my dear people ¹  crying out ² 

throughout the length and breadth of the land. ³ 

They are crying, ‘Is the Lord no longer in Zion?

Is her divine King ⁴  no longer there?’”

The Lord answers, ⁵ 

“Why then do they provoke me to anger with their images,

with their worthless foreign idols?” ⁶ 

Yeremia 10:5

10:5 Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field.

They cannot talk.

They must be carried

because they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of them

because they cannot hurt you.

And they do not have any power to help you.” ⁷ 

Yeremia 10:8

10:8 The people of those nations ⁸  are both stupid and foolish.

Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless! ⁹ 

Yeremia 10:15

10:15 They are worthless, mere objects to be mocked. ¹⁰ 

When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.

[8:19]  ¹ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[8:19]  ² tn Heb “Behold the voice of the crying of the daughter of my people.”

[8:19]  ³ tn Heb “Land of distances, i.e., of wide extent.” For parallel usage cf. Isa 33:17.

[8:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “her King” but this might be misunderstood by some to refer to the Davidic ruler even with the capitalization.

[8:19]  ⁵ tn The words, “The Lord would answer” are not in the text but are implicit from the words that follow. They are supplied in the translation for clarity. Another option would be to add “And I can just hear the Lord reply.”

[8:19]  ⁶ sn The people’s cry and the Lord’s interruption reflect the same argument that was set forth in the preceding chapter. They have misguided confidence that the Lord is with them regardless of their actions and he responds that their actions have provoked him to the point of judging them. See especially 7:4 and 7:30.

[10:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “And it is not in them to do good either.”

[10:8]  ⁸ tn Or “Those wise people and kings are…” It is unclear whether the subject is the “they” of the nations in the preceding verse, or the wise people and kings referred to. The text merely has “they.”

[10:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “The instruction of vanities [worthless idols] is wood.” The meaning of this line is a little uncertain. Various proposals have been made to make sense, most of which involve radical emendation of the text. For some examples see J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah (NICOT), 323-24, fn 6. However, this is probably a case of the bold predication that discussed in GKC 452 §141.d, some examples of which may be seen in Ps 109:4 “I am prayer,” and Ps 120:7 “I am peace.”

[10:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “objects of mockery.”