Jeremiah 5:12

5:12 “These people have denied what the Lord says.

They have said, ‘That is not so!

No harm will come to us.

We will not experience war and famine.

Jeremiah 10:23

10:23 Lord, we know that people do not control their own destiny.

It is not in their power to determine what will happen to them.

Jeremiah 17:12

Jeremiah Appeals to the Lord for Vindication

17:12 Then I said,

Lord, from the very beginning

you have been seated on your glorious throne on high.

You are the place where we can find refuge.

Jeremiah 38:24

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


tn Heb “have denied the Lord.” The words “What…says” are implicit in what follows.

tn Or “he will do nothing”; Heb “Not he [or it]!”

tn Heb “we will not see the sword and famine.”

tn Heb “Not to the man his way.” For the nuance of “fate, destiny, or the way things turn out” for the Hebrew word “way” see Hag 1:5, Isa 40:27 and probably Ps 49:13 (cf. KBL 218 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 5). For the idea of “control” or “hold in one’s power” for the preposition “to” see Ps 3:8 (cf. BDB 513 s.v. לְ 5.b[a]).

tn Heb “Not to a man the walking and the establishing his step.”

tn The words, “Then I said” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift in speaker.

sn The Lord is no longer threatening judgment but is being addressed. For a similar doxological interruption compare Jer 16:19-20.

tn Heb “about these words.”

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.

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).