Jeremiah 10:17-25

New Living Translation

The Coming Destruction

¹⁷Pack your bags and prepare to leave;
    the siege is about to begin.
¹⁸For this is what the Lord says:
“Suddenly, I will fling out
    all you who live in this land.
I will pour great troubles upon you,
    and at last you will feel my anger.”

¹⁹My wound is severe,
    and my grief is great.
My sickness is incurable,
    but I must bear it.
²⁰My home is gone,
    and no one is left to help me rebuild it.
My children have been taken away,
    and I will never see them again.
²¹The shepherds of my people have lost their senses.
    They no longer seek wisdom from the Lord.
Therefore, they fail completely,
    and their flocks are scattered.
²²Listen! Hear the terrifying roar of great armies
    as they roll down from the north.
The towns of Judah will be destroyed
    and become a haunt for jackals.

Jeremiah’s Prayer

²³I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own.
    We are not able to plan our own course.
²⁴So correct me, Lord, but please be gentle.
    Do not correct me in anger, for I would die.
²⁵Pour out your wrath on the nations that refuse to acknowledge you—
    on the peoples that do not call upon your name.
For they have devoured your people Israel^[a];
    they have devoured and consumed them,
    making the land a desolate wilderness.