Jeremiah 5:28

5:28 That is how¹ they have grown fat and sleek.²

There is no limit to the evil things they do.³

They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it.

They do not defend the rights of the poor.

Jeremiah 7:16

7:16 Then the Lord said,⁴ “As for you, Jeremiah,⁵ do not pray for these people! Do not cry out to me or petition me on their behalf! Do not plead with me to save them,⁶ because I will not listen to you.

Jeremiah 11:14

11:14 So, Jeremiah,⁷ do not pray for these people. Do not cry out to me or petition me on their behalf. Do not plead with me to save them.⁸ For I will not listen to them when they call out to me for help when disaster strikes them.”⁹

Jeremiah 27:18

27:18 I also told them,¹⁰ “If they are really prophets and the Lord is speaking to them,¹¹ let them pray earnestly to the Lord who rules over all.¹² Let them plead with him not to let the valuable articles that are still left in the Lord’s temple, in the royal palace, and in Jerusalem be taken away¹³ to Babylon.

¹tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show that this line is parallel with the preceding.

²tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. This verb occurs only here. The lexicons generally relate it to the word translated “plate” in Song 5:14 and understand it to mean “smooth, shiny” (so BDB 799 s.v. I עֶשֶׁת) or “fat” (so HALOT 850 s.v. II עֶשֶׁת). The word in Song 5:14 more likely means “smooth” than “plate” (so TEV). So “sleek” is most likely here.

³tn Heb “they cross over/transgress with respect to matters of evil.”

sn There is a wordplay in the use of this word which has twice been applied in v. 22 to the sea not crossing the boundary set for it by God.

⁴tn The words “Then the Lord said” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁵tn Heb “As for you.” The personal name Jeremiah is supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁶tn The words “to save them” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁷tn Heb “you.”

⁸tn The words “to save them” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

sn Cf. Jer 7:16 where this same command is addressed to Jeremiah.

⁹tc The rendering “when disaster strikes them” is based on reading “at the time of” (בְּעֵת, bÿ’et) with a number of Hebrew mss and the versions instead of “on account of” (בְּעַד, bÿ’ad). W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:347) is probably right in assuming that the MT has been influenced by “for them” (בַעֲדָם, va’adam) earlier in the verse.

¹⁰tn The words “I also told them” are not in the text, but it is obvious from the fact that the Lord is spoken about in the third person in vv. 18, 19, 21 that he is not the speaker. This is part of Jeremiah’s own speech to the priests and the people (v. 16). These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹¹tn Heb “the word of the Lord is with them.”

¹²tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

sn For the significance of this title see the study note on 2:19.

¹³tn Heb “…speaking to them, let them entreat the Lord…so that the valuable articles…will not go to Babylon.” The long original sentence has been broken up for the sake of English style.