Jeremiah 6:30

6:30 They are regarded as ‘rejected silver’ ¹ 

because the Lord rejects them.”

Jeremiah 8:6

8:6 I have listened to them very carefully, ² 

but they do not speak honestly.

None of them regrets the evil he has done.

None of them says, “I have done wrong!” ³ 

All of them persist in their own wayward course ⁴ 

like a horse charging recklessly into battle.

Jeremiah 13:5

13:5 So I went and buried them at Perath ⁵  as the Lord had ordered me to do.

Jeremiah 21:7

21:7 Then ⁶  I, the Lord, promise that ⁷  I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and any of the people who survive the war, starvation, and disease. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their enemies who want to kill them. He will slaughter them with the sword. He will not show them any mercy, compassion, or pity.’

Jeremiah 24:9

24:9 I will bring such disaster on them that all the kingdoms of the earth will be horrified. I will make them an object of reproach, a proverbial example of disaster. I will make them an object of ridicule, an example to be used in curses. ⁸  That is how they will be remembered wherever I banish 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 away ¹³  to Babylon.

Jeremiah 29:18

29:18 I will chase after them with war, ¹⁴  starvation, and disease. I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to them. I will make them examples of those who are cursed, objects of horror, hissing scorn, and ridicule among all the nations where I exile them.

Jeremiah 31:20

31:20 Indeed, the people of Israel are my dear children.

They are the children I take delight in. ¹⁵ 

For even though I must often rebuke them,

I still remember them with fondness.

So I am deeply moved with pity for them ¹⁶ 

and will surely have compassion on them.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ¹⁷ 

Jeremiah 36:31

36:31 I will punish him and his descendants and the officials who serve him for the wicked things they have done. ¹⁸  I will bring on them, the citizens of Jerusalem, ¹⁹  and the people of Judah all the disaster that I threatened to do to them. I will punish them because I threatened them but they still paid no heed.”’” ²⁰ 

Jeremiah 49:37

49:37 I will make the people of Elam terrified of their enemies,

who are seeking to kill them.

I will vent my fierce anger

and bring disaster upon them,” ²¹  says the Lord. ²² 

“I will send armies chasing after them ²³ 

until I have completely destroyed them.

Jeremiah 51:40

51:40 “I will lead them off to be slaughtered

like lambs, rams, and male goats.” ²⁴ 

Jeremiah 52:16

52:16 But he ²⁵  left behind some of the poor ²⁶  and gave them fields and vineyards.

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¹ tn This translation is intended to reflect the wordplay in the Hebrew text where the same root word is repeated in the two lines.

² tn Heb “I have paid attention and I have listened.” This is another case of two concepts being joined by “and” where one expresses the main idea and the other acts as an adverbial or adjectival modifier (a figure called hendiadys).

³ tn Heb “What have I done?” The addition of the word “wrong” is implicit in the context and is supplied in the translation for clarity. The rhetorical question does not function as a denial of wrongdoing, but rather as contrite shock at one’s own wrongdoing. It is translated as a declaration for the sake of clarity.

⁴ tn Heb “each one of them turns aside into their own running course.”

sn The wordplay begun in v. 4 is continued here. The word translated “turns aside” in the literal translation and “wayward” in the translation is from the same root as “go the wrong way,” “turn around,” “turn away from me,” “apostasy,” “turn back to me.” What God hoped for were confessions of repentance and change of behavior; what he got was denial of wrongdoing and continued turning away from him.

⁵ tc The translation reads בִּפְרָתָה (bifratah) with 4QJer^a as noted in W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:393 instead of בִּפְרָת (bifrat) in the MT.

⁶ tn Heb “And afterward.”

⁷ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

⁸ tn Or “an object of reproach in peoples’ proverbs…an object of ridicule in people’s curses.” The alternate translation treats the two pairs which are introduced without vavs (ו) but are joined by vavs as examples of hendiadys. This is very possible here but the chain does not contain this pairing in 25:18; 29:18.

sn For an example of how the “example used in curses” worked, see Jer 29:22. Sodom and Gomorrah evidently function much that same way (see 23:14; 49:18; 50:40; Deut 29:23; Zeph 2:9).

⁹ tn Heb “I will make them for a terror for disaster to all the kingdoms of the earth, for a reproach and for a proverb, for a taunt and a curse in all the places which I banish them there.” The complex Hebrew sentence has been broken down into equivalent shorter sentences to conform more with contemporary English style.

¹⁰ tn 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.

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

¹² tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

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

¹³ tn 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.

¹⁴ tn Heb “with the sword.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “Is Ephraim a dear son to me or a child of delight?” For the substitution of Israel for Ephraim and the plural pronouns for the singular see the note on v. 18. According to BDB 210 s.v. הֲ 1.c the question is rhetorical having the force of an impassioned affirmation. See 1 Sam 2:27; Job 41:9 (41:1 HT) for parallel usage.

¹⁶ tn Heb “my stomach churns for him.” The parallelism shows that this refers to pity or compassion.

¹⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “for their iniquity.”

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

²⁰ tn Heb “all the disaster which I spoke against them and they did not listen [or obey].”

²¹ tn Heb “I will bring disaster upon them, even my fierce anger.”

²² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

²³ tn Heb “I will send the sword after them.”

²⁴ tn Heb “I will bring them down like lambs to be slaughtered, like rams and he goats.”

sn This statement is highly ironic in light of the fact that the Babylonians were compared to lions and lion cubs (v. 38). Here they are like lambs, rams, and male goats which are to be lead off to be slaughtered.

²⁵ tn Heb “Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard.” However, the subject is clear from the preceding and modern English style would normally avoid repeating the proper name and title.

²⁶ tn Heb “poor of the land.”