Jeremiah 15
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 15
1 The Lord then said to me: Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me, my heart would not have pity on this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go! 2 And if they should ask you where they should go, say to them: Thus says the Lord:
Those destined for the plague, to plague;
those destined for the sword, to the sword;
those destined for famine, to famine;
those destined for captivity, to captivity.
3 Furthermore, four kinds of destroyers I will send against them, says the Lord: the sword to kill, dogs to drag away, birds of the sky and beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 I will make them an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what King Manasseh of Judah, the son of Hezekiah, did in Jerusalem.
5 [a]Who will there be to pity you, O Jerusalem?
Who will mourn for you?
Who will have the slightest concern
to inquire how you are?
6 You have rejected me, says the Lord,
and you have turned your back on me.
Therefore, I have stretched out my hand over you
in order to destroy you;
I am weary of having compassion for you.
7 I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork
at every city gate in the land.
I have brought bereavement and destruction on my people
because they would not abandon their evil ways.
8 I have made their widows more numerous
than the sands of the sea.
I brought a destroyer at noonday
against the mothers of young men.
Without warning, I afflicted them
with anguish and terror.
9 The mother of seven sons will grow faint
and gasp for breath.
Her sun went down while it was still day;
she has been shamed and disgraced.
As for the rest, I will give them to the sword
to perish at the hands of assassins, says the Lord.
Jeremiah’s Call Renewed[b]
10 “O my mother, how I wish
that you had never given birth to me,
a man of strife and contention for the entire land.
I have never borrowed from anyone,
nor have I lent to anyone,
yet everyone curses me.
11 Have I not truly done my best
to serve you, O Lord?
Have I not interceded with you
in times of disaster and times of distress?
12 “Can iron and bronze
break iron from the north?
13 Your wealth and your treasures
I will hand over as plunder, without repayment,
because of all your sins
throughout your territory.
14 I will force you to serve your enemies
in a land you do not know,
for my anger will kindle a fire
that will blaze against you.
15 O Lord, you know me well.
Remember me and visit me
and avenge me on my persecutors.
Continue to be patient with me
and do not cast me aside;
remember the insults I suffer for your sake.
16 “When I discovered your words, I devoured them;
they became a source of joy to me
and the delight of my heart,
because I bore your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.
17 “I have never associated with revelers
or rejoiced in their company;
I sat alone because I felt your hand on me,
and you had filled me with indignation.
18 Why then is my suffering continuous
and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
You have indeed become for me a treacherous brook
whose waters cannot be relied upon.”
19 In reply the Lord said to me:
If you repent, I will restore you,
and you will stand in my presence.
If you utter precious words
and not what is worthless,
you will be my spokesman.
This people may turn to you,
but you must not turn to them.
20 I will make you appear in the eyes of this people
to be a fortified wall of bronze.
They will fight against you
but they will not prevail,
for I am with you
to save and deliver you, says the Lord.
21 I will rescue you from the clutches of the wicked
and redeem you from the grasp of the violent.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 15:5 This oracle may date from a little after the events of 598 B.C.
- Jeremiah 15:10 The prophet has spent himself without reservation to maintain the covenant and be a witness of the Lord. He has gotten in return only misunderstanding, hostility, and isolation. The words he speaks in the depths of his suffering sound blasphemous. For this reason, the Lord has not given him even a single word of approval. The prophet has departed from the right way: he must return to it! Verses 12-14 were very clumsily inserted into this passage by a copyist.
耶利米书 15
Chinese New Version (Traditional)
耶和華離棄猶大
15 耶和華對我說：“即使摩西和撒母耳站在我面前代求，我的心也不會轉向這人民。你把他們從我面前趕走，叫他們出去！ 2 如果他們問你：‘我們要去哪裡？’你就告訴他們：‘耶和華這樣說：
該死亡的，就死亡；
該被刀劍所殺的，就被刀劍所殺；
該遭遇饑荒的，就遭遇饑荒；
該被擄的，就被擄去！’
3 我要命定四種刑罰對付他們，就是刀劍殺戮，屍體被野狗拖走，被空中的飛鳥和地上的走獸吞吃與毀滅。”這是耶和華的宣告。 4 “因猶大王希西家的兒子瑪拿西在耶路撒冷的所作所為，我必使地上萬國看見他們的遭遇就驚恐。”
5 “耶路撒冷啊！誰會可憐你呢？
誰會為你悲傷呢？
誰會轉身向你問安呢？
6 你離棄了我，
你轉身背著我；
因此我要伸手攻擊你，毀滅你，
我不會再回心轉意。”
這是耶和華的宣告。
7 “我在這地的城門口，
用簸箕簸了我的子民，
使他們喪掉兒女，使他們滅亡；
他們仍不轉離自己所行的路。
8 我使他們寡婦的數目
比海沙還多；
我使行毀滅的在午間臨到我的子民，
打擊年輕人的母親，
使痛苦的驚恐忽然臨到她們身上。
9 那生過七個子女的母親衰竭疲弱，
幾乎氣絕；
還在白晝，她的太陽已經西落，
她必慚愧蒙羞。
我必使他們餘剩的人在敵人面前死於刀下。”
這是耶和華的宣告。
耶和華安慰且眷顧耶利米
10 我母親哪！我有禍了，因為你生了我，
這個跟全地相爭相鬥的人。
我從沒有借錢給人，也沒有向人借錢，
可是人人都咒罵我。
11 耶和華說：“我必為你的好處釋放你；
在遭遇禍患和災難的時候，
我必叫你的仇敵懇求你。
12 誰可以折斷鐵，
就是從北方來的鐵和銅呢？
13 因你在四境之內所犯的一切罪，
我必把你的財產和寶物，
白白給敵人作掠物。
14 我必使你在你不認識的地方，
服事你的仇敵（有古抄本作“我必使你的仇敵過去，到你所不認識的地方”）；
因為我的怒火燃燒起來，
要燒滅你們。”
15 耶和華啊！你知道這一切；
求你記念我，看顧我，
替我向那些逼迫我的人報復。
求你忍怒，不要取去我的性命；
要知道，我為你的緣故受了侮辱。
16 我一得到你的話，就把它們吃了；
你的話成了我心中的歡喜快樂；
耶和華萬軍的 神啊！
因為我是稱為你名下的人。
17 我沒有坐在歡笑者的集會中一同歡樂；
因為你的手在我身上，
你使我滿了忿怒，
我就獨自靜坐。
18 我的痛苦為甚麼長久不止呢？
我的創傷為甚麼無法醫治，不得痊愈呢？
你對我真的像叫人失望、
靠不住的溪流嗎？
19 因此，耶和華這樣說：
“如果你回轉，我必讓你回來，
你就可以侍立在我面前。
如果你說寶貴的話，不說無價值的話，
就必作我的口。
他們要歸向你，
你卻不要歸向他們。
20 我要使你成為堅固的銅牆抵擋這人民，
他們必攻擊你，卻不能勝過你；
因為我與你同在，
要拯救你，搭救你。”
這是耶和華的宣告。
21 “我必搭救你脫離惡人的手，
救贖你脫離強暴人的掌握（“掌握”原文作“手掌”）。”
Jeremiah 15
King James Version
15 Then said the Lord unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.
2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the Lord; 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 captivity, to the captivity.
3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.
4 And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
5 For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest?
6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.
7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people since they return not from their ways.
8 Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city.
9 She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the Lord.
10 Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.
11 The Lord said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.
12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
14 And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.
15 O Lord, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.
17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
