Jeremiah 15

Contemporary English Version

The People of Judah Will Die

15 The Lord said to me:

Even if Moses and Samuel were here, praying with you, I wouldn’t change my mind. So send the people of Judah away. ²And when they ask where they are going, tell them that I, the Lord, have said:

Some of you are going to die
    of horrible diseases.
Others are going to die in war
    or from starvation.
The rest will be led away
    to a foreign country.
³I will punish you
    in four different ways:
You will be killed in war
and your bodies dragged off
    by dogs,
your flesh will be eaten by birds,
and your bones will be chewed on
    by wild animals.
⁴This punishment will happen
because of the horrible things^[a]
    your King Manasseh^[b] did.
And you will be disgusting
    to all nations on earth.
⁵People of Jerusalem,
    who will feel sorry for you?
Will anyone bother
    to ask if you are well?

⁶My people, you abandoned me
    and walked away.
I am tired of showing mercy;
    that’s why I’ll destroy you
⁷by scattering you like straw
    blown by the wind.
I will punish you with sorrow
    and death,
because you refuse
    to change your ways.
⁸There will be more widows
    in Judah
than grains of sand on a beach.

A surprise attack at noon!
And the mothers in Jerusalem
    mourn for their children.
⁹A mother is in deep despair
    and struggles for breath.
Her daylight has turned
    to darkness—
she has suffered the loss
    of her seven sons.

I will kill anyone who survives.
I, the Lord, have spoken.

Jeremiah Complains

¹⁰I wish I had never been born!
I’m always in trouble
with everyone in Judah.
I never lend or borrow money,
but everyone curses me
just the same.

¹¹Then the Lord replied,
“I promise to protect you,
and when disaster comes,
even your enemies
will beg you for help.”^[c]

The Enemy Cannot Be Defeated

The Lord told me to say:

¹²People of Judah,
just as you can’t break iron
    mixed with bronze,
you can’t defeat the enemies
that will attack
    from the north.
¹³I will give them
    everything you own,
because you have sinned
    everywhere in your country.
¹⁴My anger is a fire
    that cannot be put out,^[d]
so I will make you slaves
of your enemies
    in a foreign land.^[e]

Jeremiah Complains Again

¹⁵You can see how I suffer
insult after insult,
    all because of you, Lord.
Don’t be so patient
    with my enemies;
take revenge on them
    before they kill me.

¹⁶When you spoke to me,
    I was glad to obey,
because I belong to you,
    the Lord All-Powerful.
¹⁷I don’t go to parties
    and have a good time.
Instead, I keep to myself,
because you have filled me
    with your anger.

¹⁸I am badly injured
and in constant pain.
Are you going to disappoint me,
like a stream that goes dry
in the heat of summer?

The Lord Replies

¹⁹Then the Lord told me:
    Stop talking like a fool!
If you turn back to me
    and speak my message,
I will let you be my prophet
    once again.
I hope the people of Judah
    will accept what you say.
But you can ignore their threats,
²⁰because I am making you strong,
    like a bronze wall.
They are evil and violent,
    but when they attack,
²¹I will be there to rescue you.
    I, the Lord, have spoken.

Footnotes

15.4 the horrible things: See 2 Kings 21.1-16.
15.4 Manasseh: Hebrew “Manasseh son of Hezekiah”; he ruled 687-642 B.C.
15.11 help: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 11.
15.14 that cannot be put out: Some Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts “against you.”
15.14 I will make. . . land: Many Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts “I will make your enemies go through to a land you don’t know about.”