Add parallel Print Page Options

13 The Lord’s message came to me a second time, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a pot of boiling water; it is tipped away from the north.”[a] 14 Then the Lord said, “From the north[b] destruction will break out on all who live in the land. 15 For I will soon summon all the peoples of the kingdoms of the north,” says the Lord. “They will come and their kings will set up their thrones[c] near the entrances of the gates of Jerusalem. They will attack all the walls surrounding it and all the towns in Judah.[d] 16 In this way[e] I will pass sentence[f] on the people of Jerusalem and Judah[g] because of all their wickedness. For they rejected me and offered sacrifices to other gods, worshiping what they made with their own hands.[h]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 1:13 tn Heb “its face is away from the north.”
  2. Jeremiah 1:14 sn This works like the sound play in 1:11-12 (see note at 1:12), although the word “north” is repeated with the same meaning both times. The boiling pot is only relevant as a scene that prompts Jeremiah to say “north,” which is the jumping off point for giving the prophecy.
  3. Jeremiah 1:15 tn Heb “they will each set up.” The pronoun “they” refers back to the “kingdoms” in the preceding sentence. However, kingdoms do not sit on thrones; their kings do. This is an example of a figure of speech called metonymy, where the kingdom is put for its king. For a similar use see 2 Chr 12:8.
  4. Jeremiah 1:15 tn Or “They will come and set up their thrones in the entrances of the gates of Jerusalem. They will destroy all the walls surrounding it and also destroy all the towns in Judah.” The text of v. 15b reads in Hebrew, “they will each set up his throne [near? in?] the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem and against all its walls…and against all the towns….” Commentators are divided over whether the passage refers to the kings setting up their thrones after victory in preparation for passing judgment on their defeated enemies in the city or whether it refers to setting up siege against it. There is no Hebrew preposition before the word for “the entrance” so that it could be “in” (which would imply victory) or “at/near” (which would imply siege), and the same verb + object (i.e., “they will set up their thrones”) governs all the locative statements. It is most often taken to refer to the aftermath of victory because of the supposed parallel in Jer 43:8-13 and the supposed fulfillment in Jer 39:3. Though this may fit well with the first part of the compound expression, it does not fit well with the latter part, which is most naturally taken to refer to hostile attacks against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah. The translation given in the text is intended to reflect the idea of an army setting up for siege. The alternate translation is intended to reflect the other view.
  5. Jeremiah 1:16 tn The Hebrew particle (the vav [ו] consecutive), which is often rendered in some English versions as “and” and in others is simply left untranslated, is rendered here epexegetically, reflecting a summary statement.
  6. Jeremiah 1:16 sn The Hebrew idiom (literally “I will speak my judgments against”) is found three other times in Jeremiah (4:12; 39:5; 52:9), where it is followed by the carrying out of the sentence. Here the carrying out of the sentence precedes in v. 15.
  7. Jeremiah 1:16 tn Heb “on them.” The antecedent goes back to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah (i.e., the people in them) in v. 15.
  8. Jeremiah 1:16 tn That is, idols.

13 Yahweh’s word came to me the second time, saying, “What do you see?”

I said, “I see a boiling cauldron; and it is tipping away from the north.”

14 Then Yahweh said to me, “Out of the north, evil will break out on all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For, behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” says Yahweh.

“They will come, and they will each set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem,
    and against all its walls all around, and against all the cities of Judah.
16 I will utter my judgments against them concerning all their wickedness,
    in that they have forsaken me,
    and have burned incense to other gods,
    and worshiped the works of their own hands.

Read full chapter