¹⁰ Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.”

¹⁴ Leave me alone so I may destroy them and erase their name from under heaven. Then I will make a mighty nation of your descendants, a nation larger and more powerful than they are.’

¹² I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are!”

¹⁹ I feared that the furious anger of the Lord, which turned him against you, would drive him to destroy you. But again he listened to me.

⁴⁵ “Get away from all these people so that I can instantly destroy them!” But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground.

⁴⁶ And Moses said to Aaron, “Quick, take an incense burner and place burning coals on it from the altar. Lay incense on it, and carry it out among the people to purify them and make them right with the Lord.^[a] The Lord’s anger is blazing against them—the plague has already begun.”

⁴⁷ Aaron did as Moses told him and ran out among the people. The plague had already begun to strike down the people, but Aaron burned the incense and purified^[b] the people. ⁴⁸ He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague stopped.

²⁴ My anger will blaze against you, and I will kill you with the sword. Then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.

¹⁶ Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

Judah’s Inevitable Doom

15 Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for these people, I wouldn’t help them. Away with them! Get them out of my sight!

The Lord Forbids Jeremiah to Intercede

¹¹ Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for these people anymore.

²² But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground. “O God,” they pleaded, “you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Must you be angry with all the people when only one man sins?”