Jeremiah 15-16

Common English Bible

Lamenting Jerusalem’s dire circumstances

15 The Lord said to me: Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me, I wouldn’t change my mind about these people. Send them away from me. Let them go! ²And if they say, “Go where?” tell them, This is what the Lord proclaims:

Those marked for death—to death,
those marked for war—to war,
those marked for famine—to famine, and those marked for exile—to exile.

³I will appoint over them four agents^[a] of death, declares the Lord: soldiers to kill, dogs to drag off, and vultures and wild animals to devour and destroy. ⁴Because of what Judah’s King Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son, has done in Jerusalem, I will make them an object of horror to all nations on earth.

⁵Who will pity you, Jerusalem?
    Who will shed tears over you?
    Who will stop and ask how you’re doing?
⁶You have deserted me,
        declares the Lord.
    You have turned your back on me.
    So I will turn my hand against you
        and destroy you.
I’m tired of holding back.
⁷    I will winnow them with a winnowing fork
        at the gates of their country.
I will bereave and destroy my people
    because they haven’t changed their ways.
⁸Their widows will outnumber
    the sand on the shore.
I will bring a destroyer in broad daylight
    against the mothers of young men.^[b]
Suddenly I will bring distress
    and terror upon them.
⁹The mother of seven
    will grow weak and gasp for air;
        her sun will set while it is yet day;
        she will be ashamed and disgraced.
    I will deliver the survivors to the sword,
    to the power of their enemies,
        declares the Lord.

¹⁰I wish I had never been born! I have become a source of conflict and dissension in my own country. Even though I haven’t lent or borrowed, still everyone curses me.

¹¹The Lord said:
Haven’t I taken care of you?
    Haven’t I helped you with your enemies
        in time of trouble and distress?^[c]
¹²Can a person shatter iron,
    iron from the north, or bronze?
¹³Your wealth and belongings
    I will deliver as plunder,
        without a fee,
        because of all your sins
        throughout your territory.
¹⁴I will make you serve your enemies
    in a land you don’t know,
        for my anger blazes like a fire
        that won’t go out.

¹⁵You understand, Lord!
    Remember me and act on my behalf.
Bring judgment on those who torment me.
    In your mercy, spare my life.^[d]
    Consider how I’m insulted on your account.
¹⁶When your words turned up, I feasted on them;
    and they became my joy, the delight of my heart,
        because I belong to you,
        Lord God of heavenly forces.
¹⁷I didn’t join the festive occasions;
    I took no delight in them.
    I sat alone
        because your hand was upon me
        and you had filled me with curses.
¹⁸Why am I always in pain?
    Why is my wound incurable,
        so far beyond healing?
You have become for me as unreliable
    as a spring gone dry!

¹⁹Therefore, the Lord proclaims:
If you return to me, I will take you back
    and let you stand before me.
If you utter what is worthwhile,
        not what is worthless,
    you will be my spokesman.
They will turn to you,
    not you to them!
²⁰I will make you a sturdy bronze wall
    against these people.
They will attack you,
        but they won’t triumph,
    because I am with you
        to protect and rescue you,
            declares the Lord.
²¹I will rescue you from the hand of the wicked;
    I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent.

Loss of hope

16 The Lord’s word came to me: ²Don’t marry or have children in this place. ³This is what the Lord proclaims concerning children who are born in this place and their mothers and fathers who give birth to them in this place:

⁴They will die of horrible diseases.
        No one will mourn for them or bury them.
They will be like refuse lying on the ground.
    They will die from the sword and by famine,
        and their corpses will be food for birds and wild animals.
⁵This is what the Lord says:
Don’t enter a house where there is mourning;
    don’t grieve or lament for them,
    for I have taken away my blessing, kindness, and mercy from this people,
        declares the Lord.
⁶From the least to the greatest,
    all will die in this land,
        and there will be no funerals or time of mourning.
    No one will gash themselves in grief
        or shave their heads in sorrow.
⁷    No one will bring food^[e] for the mourner
        as comfort for the dead.
    No one will offer a cup of consolation
        for the loss of father or mother.

⁸Don’t enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink. ⁹This is what the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims:

Before your very eyes and in your own lifetime, I will silence in this place the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bridegroom and the bride.

¹⁰When you proclaim all these things to the people, and they ask you, “Why has the Lord pronounced such massive devastation against us? What have we done wrong? How have we sinned against the Lord our God?” ¹¹then you should tell them: It’s because your ancestors have deserted me and followed other gods, declares the Lord. They have served and worshipped them, while abandoning me and refusing to keep my Instruction. ¹²And you, you have acted worse than your ancestors, each of you following your own willful, evil hearts and paying no attention to me. ¹³So I will banish you from this land to a place that neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no mercy.

¹⁴But the time is coming, declares the Lord, when no one will say, “As the Lord lives who brought up the Israelites from the land of Egypt”; ¹⁵instead, they will say, “As the Lord lives who brought up the Israelites from the land of the north and from all the lands where he has banished them.” I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors.

¹⁶I’m going to send hordes of fishermen to catch them, declares the Lord. Afterward I will send a party of hunters to hunt them down on every mountain, hill, and cave. ¹⁷I am watching their every move; not one is hidden from me. Nor is their sin concealed from my sight. ¹⁸I will initially pay them back double for their evil and sin, because they have corrupted my land with their disgusting, lifeless idols and have filled my inheritance with their detestable practices.

¹⁹Lord, you are my strength and my stronghold;
    you are my refuge in time of trouble.
The nations will flock to you
    from the ends of the earth,
    and they will say:
        “Our ancestors have inherited utter lies,
        things that are hollow and useless.”
²⁰Can humans make their own gods?
    If so, they are not gods at all!
²¹Therefore, I will teach them;
    this time I will teach them
        my power and my might.
    They will understand that I am the Lord.