Yeremia 3:4

3:4 Even now you say to me, ‘You are my father! ¹ 

You have been my faithful companion ever since I was young.

Yeremia 3:9

3:9 Because she took her prostitution so lightly, she defiled the land ²  through her adulterous worship of gods made of wood and stone. ³ 

Yeremia 3:20

3:20 But, you have been unfaithful to me, nation of Israel, ⁴ 

like an unfaithful wife who has left her husband,” ⁵ 

says the Lord.

Yeremia 4:27

4:27 All this will happen because the Lord said, ⁶ 

“The whole land will be desolate;

however, I will not completely destroy it.

Yeremia 5:9

5:9 I will surely punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.

“I will surely bring retribution on such a nation as this!” ⁷ 

Yeremia 6:24

6:24 The people cry out, ⁸  “We have heard reports about them!

We have become helpless with fear! ⁹ 

Anguish grips us,

agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby!

Yeremia 7:1

Faulty Religion and Unethical Behavior Will Lead to Judgment

7:1 The Lord said to Jeremiah: ¹⁰ 

Yeremia 7:15

7:15 And I will drive you out of my sight just like I drove out your relatives, the people of Israel.’” ¹¹ 

Yeremia 9:14

9:14 Instead they have followed the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts. They have paid allegiance to ¹²  the gods called Baal, ¹³  as their fathers ¹⁴  taught them to do.

Yeremia 10:21

10:21 For our leaders ¹⁵  are stupid.

They have not sought the Lord’s advice. ¹⁶ 

So they do not act wisely,

and the people they are responsible for ¹⁷  have all been scattered.

Yeremia 10:24

10:24 Correct us, Lord, but only in due measure. ¹⁸ 

Do not punish us in anger or you will reduce us to nothing. ¹⁹ 

Yeremia 15:13

15:13 I will give away your wealth and your treasures as plunder.

I will give it away free of charge for the sins you have committed throughout your land.

Yeremia 19:12

19:12 I, the Lord, say: ²⁰  ‘That is how I will deal with this city and its citizens. I will make it like Topheth.

Yeremia 21:11

Warnings to the Royal Court

21:11 The Lord told me to say ²¹  to the royal court ²²  of Judah,

“Listen to what the Lord says,

Yeremia 22:19

22:19 He will be left unburied just like a dead donkey.

His body will be dragged off and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.’” ²³ 

Yeremia 26:6

26:6 If you do not obey me, ²⁴  then I will do to this temple what I did to Shiloh. ²⁵  And I will make this city an example to be used in curses by people from all the nations on the earth.’”

Yeremia 41:18

41:18 They were afraid of what the Babylonians might do ²⁶  because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the country.

Yeremia 48:10

48:10 A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work!

A curse on anyone who keeps from carrying out his destruction! ²⁷ 

Yeremia 48:47

48:47 Yet in days to come

I will reverse Moab’s ill fortune.” ²⁸ 

says the Lord. ²⁹ 

The judgment against Moab ends here.

Yeremia 51:55

51:55 For the Lord is ready to destroy Babylon,

and put an end to her loud noise.

Their waves ³⁰  will roar like turbulent ³¹  waters.

They will make a deafening noise. ³² 

Yeremia 51:60

51:60 Jeremiah recorded ³³  on one scroll all the judgments ³⁴  that would come upon Babylon – all these prophecies ³⁵  written about Babylon.

Yeremia 52:32

52:32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than ³⁶  the other kings who were with him in Babylon.

[3:4]  ¹ tn Heb “Have you not just now called out to me, ‘[you are] my father!’?” The rhetorical question expects a positive answer.

[3:9]  ² tc The translation reads the form as a causative (Hiphil, תַּהֲנֵף, tahanef) with some of the versions in place of the simple stative (Qal, תֶּחֱנַף, tekhenaf) in the MT.

[3:9]  ³ tn Heb “because of the lightness of her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood.”

[3:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “house of Israel.”

[3:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “a wife unfaithful from her husband.”

[4:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “For this is what the Lord said,”

[5:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “Should I not punish them…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions have the force of strong declarations.

[6:24]  ⁸ tn These words are not in the text, but, from the context, someone other than God is speaking and is speaking for and to the people (either Jeremiah or the people themselves). These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:24]  ⁹ tn Or “We have lost our strength to do battle”; Heb “Our hands hang limp [or helpless at our sides].” According to BDB 951 s.v. רָפָה Qal.2, this idiom is used figuratively for losing heart or energy. The best example of its figurative use of loss of strength or the feeling of helplessness is in Ezek 21:12 where it appears in the context of the heart (courage) melting, the spirit sinking, and the knees becoming like water. For other examples compare 2 Sam 4:1; Zeph 3:16. In Neh 6:9 it is used literally of the builders “dropping their hands from the work” out of fear. The words “with fear” are supplied in the translation because they are implicit in the context.

[7:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord.”

[7:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the descendants of Ephraim.” However, Ephraim here stands (as it often does) for all the northern tribes of Israel.

[9:14]  ¹² tn Heb “they have gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

[9:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “the Baals,” referring either to the pagan gods called “Baals” or the images of Baal (so NLT).

[9:14]  ¹⁴ tn Or “forefathers,” or “ancestors.” Here the referent could be the immediate parents or, by their example, more distant ancestors.

[10:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the shepherds.”

[10:21]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “They have not sought the Lord.”

[10:21]  sn The idiom translated sought the Lord’s advice quite commonly refers to inquiring for the Lord’s guidance through a prophet. See for example Exod 18:15; 1 Sam 9:9; 1 Kgs 22:8. It would not exclude consulting the law.

[10:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “all their flock (or “pasturage”).”

[10:21]  sn This verse uses the figure of rulers as shepherds and the people they ruled as sheep. It is a common figure in the Bible. See Ezek 34 for an extended development of this metaphor.

[10:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “with justice.”

[10:24]  ¹⁹ tn The words, “to almost nothing” are not in the text. They are implicit from the general context and are supplied by almost all English versions.

[19:12]  ²⁰ tn This phrase (Heb “Oracle of the Lord”) has been handled this way on several occasions when it occurs within first person addresses where the Lord is the speaker. See, e.g., 16:16; 17:24; 18:6.

[21:11]  ²¹ 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.

[21:11]  ²² tn Heb “house” or “household.” It is clear from 22:1-6 that this involved the King, the royal family, and the court officials.

[22:19]  ²³ sn A similar judgment against this ungodly king is pronounced by Jeremiah in 36:30. According to 2 Chr 36:6 he was bound over to be taken captive to Babylon but apparently died before he got there. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Nebuchadnezzar ordered his body thrown outside the wall in fulfillment of this judgment. The Bible itself, however, does not tell us that.

[22:19]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[26:6]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ sn See the study note on Jer 7:13.

[41:18]  ²⁶ tn Verses 16-18a are a long complex sentence in the Hebrew text with some rather awkward placement of qualifying terms. In the Hebrew text these verses read: “41:16 And he took, Johanan…and all the army officers with him, all the people who were left alive which he [Johanan] had taken back from Ishmael son of Nethaniah from Mizpah after he [Ishmael] had killed Gedaliah…men, men of war, and women and children and court officials which he [Johanan] had brought back from Gibeon 41:17 and they went and they stayed at Geruth Kimham…to go to enter Egypt 41:18 because of the Chaldean because they were afraid of them because Ishmael…” The sentence has been broken down and restructured to reflect all the relevant data in shorter sentences which better conform with contemporary English style. There are a couple of places where the text and syntax are debated. Many modern English versions and commentaries read “They led off/took control of/took all survivors of the people whom Ishmael…had taken captive [reading שָׁבָה ֹאתָם (shavah ’otam) in place of הֵשִׁיב מֵאֵת (heshiv me’et), “whom he (Johanan) had taken back/rescued from Ishmael] from Mizpah after he had…” This is a decidedly smoother text but there is no manuscript or versional evidence for it and so it has been rejected here. Some commentators and English versions see the words “men of war” (“soldiers”) following the word “men” as appositional to that word and hence see only one category. However, there are no parallels to these words used in this kind of apposition. So the translation reflects two categories.

[48:10]  ²⁷ tn Heb “who withholds his sword from bloodshed.” This verse is an editorial aside (or apostrophe) addressed to the Babylonian destroyers to be diligent in carrying out the work of the Lord in destroying Moab.

[48:47]  ²⁸ tn See 29:14; 30:3 and the translator’s note on 29:14 for the idiom used here.

[48:47]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[51:55]  ³⁰ tn The antecedent of the third masculine plural pronominal suffix is not entirely clear. It probably refers back to the “destroyers” mentioned in v. 53 as the agents of God’s judgment on Babylon.

[51:55]  ³¹ tn Or “mighty waters.”

[51:55]  ³² tn Heb “and the noise of their sound will be given,”

[51:60]  ³³ tn Or “wrote.”

[51:60]  ³⁴ tn Or “disaster”; or “calamity.”

[51:60]  ³⁵ tn Heb “words” (or “things”).

[52:32]  ³⁶ tn Heb “made his throne above the throne of