Jeremiah 15
New King James Version
The Lord Will Not Relent
15 Then the Lord said to me, (A)“Even if (B)Moses and (C)Samuel stood before Me, My [a]mind would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth. 2 And it shall be, if they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you shall tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord:
(D)“Such as are for death, to death;
And such as are for the sword, to the sword;
And such as are for the famine, to the famine;
And such as are for the (E)captivity, to the captivity.” ’
3 “And I will (F)appoint over them four forms of destruction,” says the Lord: “the sword to slay, the dogs to drag, (G)the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 I will hand them over to (H)trouble, to all kingdoms of the earth, because of (I)Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.
5 “For who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem?
Or who will bemoan you?
Or who will turn aside to ask how you are doing?
6 (J)You have forsaken Me,” says the Lord,
“You have (K)gone backward.
Therefore I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you;
(L)I am [b]weary of relenting!
7 And I will winnow them with a winnowing fan in the gates of the land;
I will (M)bereave them of children;
I will destroy My people,
Since they (N)do not return from their ways.
8 Their widows will be increased to Me more than the sand of the seas;
I will bring against them,
Against the mother of the young men,
A plunderer at noonday;
I will cause anguish and terror to fall on them (O)suddenly.
9 “She(P) languishes who has borne seven;
She has breathed her last;
(Q)Her sun has gone down
While it was yet day;
She has been ashamed and confounded.
And the remnant of them I will deliver to the sword
Before their enemies,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah’s Dejection
10 (R)Woe is me, my mother,
That you have borne me,
A man of strife and a man of contention to the whole [c]earth!
I have neither lent for interest,
Nor have men lent to me for interest.
Every one of them curses me.
11 The Lord said:
“Surely it will be well with your remnant;
Surely I will cause (S)the enemy to intercede with you
In the time of adversity and in the time of affliction.
12 Can anyone break iron,
The northern iron and the bronze?
13 Your wealth and your treasures
I will give as (T)plunder without price,
Because of all your sins,
Throughout your territories.
14 And I will [d]make you cross over with your enemies
(U)Into a land which you do not know;
For a (V)fire is kindled in My anger,
Which shall burn upon you.”
15 O Lord, (W)You know;
Remember me and [e]visit me,
And (X)take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In Your enduring patience, do not take me away.
Know that (Y)for Your sake I have suffered rebuke.
16 Your words were found, and I (Z)ate them,
And (AA)Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;
For I am called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts.
17 (AB)I did not sit in the assembly of the mockers,
Nor did I rejoice;
I sat alone because of Your hand,
For You have filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my (AC)pain perpetual
And my wound incurable,
Which refuses to be healed?
Will You surely be to me (AD)like an unreliable stream,
As waters that [f]fail?
The Lord Reassures Jeremiah
19 Therefore thus says the Lord:
(AE)“If you return,
Then I will bring you back;
You shall (AF)stand before Me;
If you (AG)take out the precious from the vile,
You shall be as My mouth.
Let them return to you,
But you must not return to them.
20 And I will make you to this people a fortified bronze (AH)wall;
And they will fight against you,
But (AI)they shall not prevail against you;
For I am with you to save you
And deliver you,” says the Lord.
21 “I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,
And I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 15:1 Lit. soul was not toward
- Jeremiah 15:6 tired
- Jeremiah 15:10 Or land
- Jeremiah 15:14 So with MT, Vg.; LXX, Syr., Tg. cause you to serve (cf. 17:4)
- Jeremiah 15:15 attend to
- Jeremiah 15:18 Or cannot be trusted
Jeremiah 15
Complete Jewish Bible
15 Then Adonai said to me, “Even if Moshe and Sh’mu’el were standing in front of me, my heart would not turn toward this people! Drive them out of my sight, get them out of here! 2 And when they ask you where they should go, tell them that this is what Adonai says:
‘Those destined for death — to death!
Those destined for the sword — to the sword!
Those destined for famine — to famine!
Those destined for captivity — to captivity!’
3 “I will assign them four kinds [of scourges],” says Adonai, “the sword to kill, dogs to drag away, birds in the air and wild animals to devour and destroy. 4 I will make them an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of M’nasheh the son of Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah, because of what he did in Yerushalayim.
5 “Who will take pity on you, Yerushalayim?
Who will grieve for you?
Who will turn aside
to ask about your welfare?
6 You have rejected me,” says Adonai.
“You are heading backward.
So I am stretching out my hand against you;
tired of sparing you, I am destroying you.
7 With a winnowing fork I am scattering them
to the wind at the gates of the land;
I am bereaving them, destroying my people,
because they will not return from their ways.
8 Their widows increase in number
more than the sand of the seas;
At midday I am bringing the destroyer
on the mothers of young men,
causing anguish and terror
suddenly to fall upon her.
9 The mother of seven sons grows faint,
panting in despair;
her sun has gone down while it’s still daytime;
she is left disgraced and bewildered.
And the rest of them I will give to the sword,
to their enemies,” says Adonai.
10 Woe to me, mother, that you gave me birth,
a man who is the object of strife
and controversy throughout the land!
I neither lend nor borrow,
yet all of them curse me.
11 Adonai said, “I promise to release you for good, I promise to make your enemies appeal to you when calamity and trouble come.
12 “Can iron break iron and bronze from the north? 13 I will give away your wealth and your treasures as plunder, and you will not be paid for them, because of all your sins throughout your territory; 14 and I will make you pass together with your enemies into a land you do not know. For my anger has become a blazing fire, and it will flare up against you.”
15 Adonai, you know. Remember me, think of me,
and take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
Because you are patient, don’t banish me;
know that for your sake I suffer insults.
16 When I found your words, I devoured them;
your words made me glad, they gave me joy;
because, Adonai-Tzva’ot,
you had me bear your name.
17 I have never kept company with merrymakers,
I could not celebrate;
with your hand on me I sat by myself,
for you filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unending,
my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Will you be for me like a deceptive vadi,
which is only sometimes filled with water?
19 This is Adonai’s answer:
“If you return — if I bring you back —
you will stand before me.
If you separate the precious from the base,
you will be my spokesman.
It will then be they who turn to you,
not you who turn to them.
20 Toward this people I will make you
a fortified wall of bronze —
they will fight against you
but not prevail against you;
for I am with you to save you
and rescue you,” says Adonai.
21 “I will free you from the grasp of the wicked
and redeem you from the clutches of the ruthless.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.