Yeremia 23:20

23:20 The anger of the Lord will not turn back

until he has fully carried out his intended purposes. ¹ 

In days to come ² 

you people will come to understand this clearly. ³ 

Yeremia 49:30

49:30 The Lord says, ⁴  “Flee quickly, you who live in Hazor. ⁵ 

Take up refuge in remote places. ⁶ 

For King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has laid out plans to attack you.

He has formed his strategy on how to defeat you.” ⁷ 

Yeremia 51:12

51:12 Give the signal to attack Babylon’s wall! ⁸ 

Bring more guards! ⁹ 

Post them all around the city! ¹⁰ 

Put men in ambush! ¹¹ 

For the Lord will do what he has planned.

He will do what he said he would do to the people of Babylon. ¹² 

[23:20]  ¹ tn Heb “until he has done and until he has carried out the purposes of his heart.”

[23:20]  ² tn Heb “in the latter days.” However, as BDB 31 s.v. אַחֲרִית b suggests, the meaning of this idiom must be determined from the context. Sometimes it has remote, even eschatological, reference and other times it has more immediate reference as it does here and in Jer 30:23 where it refers to the coming days of Babylonian conquest and exile.

[23:20]  ³ tn The translation is intended to reflect a Hebrew construction where a noun functions as the object of a verb from the same root word (the Hebrew cognate accusative).

[49:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[49:30]  ⁵ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[49:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “Make deep to dwell.” See Jer 49:8 and the translator’s note there. The use of this same phrase here argues against the alternative there of going down from a height and going back home.

[49:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “has counseled a counsel against you, has planned a plan against you.”

[51:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “Raise a banner against the walls of Babylon.”

[51:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “Strengthen the watch.”

[51:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Station the guards.”

[51:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Prepare ambushes.”

[51:12]  sn The commands are here addressed to the kings of the Medes to fully blockade the city by posting watchmen and setting men in ambush to prevent people from escaping from the city (cf. 2 Kgs 25:4).

[51:12]  ¹² tn Heb “For the Lord has both planned and done what he said concerning the people living in Babylon,” i.e., “he has carried out what he planned.” Here is an obvious case where the perfects are to be interpreted as prophetic; the commands imply that the attack is still future.