Yeremia 5:29

5:29 I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.

“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this! ¹ 

Yeremia 11:3

11:3 Tell them that the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Anyone who does not keep the terms of the covenant will be under a curse. ² 

Yeremia 20:15

20:15 Cursed be the man

who made my father very glad

when he brought him the news

that a baby boy had been born to him! ³ 

Yeremia 38:24

38:24 Then Zedekiah told Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know about the conversation we have had. ⁴  If you do, you will die. ⁵ 

[5:29]  ¹ tn Heb “Should I not punish…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions function as emphatic declarations.

[5:29]  sn These words are repeated from 5:9 to give a kind of refrain justifying again the necessity of punishment in the light of such sins.

[11:3]  ² tn Heb “Cursed is the person who does not listen to the terms of this covenant.” “This covenant” is further qualified in the following verse by a relative clause. The form of the sentence and the qualification “my” before covenant were chosen for better English idiom and to break up a long sentence which really extends to the middle of v. 5.

[20:15]  ³ tn Heb “Cursed be the man who brought my father the news saying, ‘A son, a male, has been born to you,’ making glad his joy.” This verse has been restructured for English stylistic purposes.

[20:15]  sn The birth of a child was an occasion of great joy. This was especially true if the child was a boy because it meant the continuance of the family line and the right of retention of the family property. See Ruth 4:10, 13-17.

[38:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “about these words.”

[38:24]  ⁵ tn Or “so that you will not die.” Or “or you will die.” See the similar construction in 37:20 and the translator’s note there.

[38:24]  sn This is probably not a threat that the king himself will kill Jeremiah, but a premonition that if the pro-Egyptian party that was seeking to kill Jeremiah found out about the conversation they would go ahead and kill Jeremiah (cf. 38:2-4).