Discovery BoxJeremiah 5:12 
Context5:12 “These people have denied what the Lord says. 1
They have said, ‘That is not so! 2
No harm will come to us.
We will not experience war and famine. 3
Jeremiah 10:23
Context10:23 Lord, we know that people do not control their own destiny. 4
It is not in their power to determine what will happen to them. 5
Jeremiah 17:12
Context“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
Context38:24 Then Zedekiah told Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know about the conversation we have had. 7 If you do, you will die. 8
1 tn Heb “have denied the
2 tn Or “he will do nothing”; Heb “Not he [or it]!”
3 tn Heb “we will not see the sword and famine.”
4 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]).
5 tn Heb “Not to a man the walking and the establishing his step.”
6 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
7 tn Heb “about these words.”
8 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).
