Yeremia 3:14

3:14 “Come back to me, my wayward sons,” says the Lord, “for I am your true master. ¹  If you do, ²  I will take one of you from each town and two of you from each family group, and I will bring you back to Zion.

Yeremia 4:31

4:31 In fact, ³  I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor,

a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby.

It is the cry of Daughter Zion ⁴  gasping for breath,

reaching out for help, ⁵  saying, “I am done in! ⁶ 

My life is ebbing away before these murderers!”

Yeremia 12:1

12:1 Lord, you have always been fair

whenever I have complained to you. ⁷ 

However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ⁸ 

Why are wicked people successful? ⁹ 

Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

[3:14]  ¹ tn Or “I am your true husband.”

[3:14]  sn There is a wordplay between the term “true master” and the name of the pagan god Baal. The pronoun “I” is emphatic, creating a contrast between the Lord as Israel’s true master/husband versus Baal as Israel’s illegitimate lover/master. See 2:23-25.

[3:14]  ² tn The words, “If you do” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection of the Hebrew verb with the preceding.

[4:31]  ³ tn The particle כִּי (ki) is more likely asseverative here than causal.

[4:31]  ⁴ sn Jerusalem is personified as a helpless maiden.

[4:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “spreading out her hands.” The idea of asking or pleading for help is implicit in the figure.

[4:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “Woe, now to me!” See the translator’s note on 4:13 for the usage of “Woe to…”

[12:1]  ⁷ tn Or “Lord, you are fair when I present my case before you.”

[12:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).

[12:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”