Jeremiah 2:30-32
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
30 In vain I have struck down your children;
they accepted no correction.
Your own sword devoured your prophets
like a ravening lion.(A)
31 And you, O generation, behold the word of the Lord![a]
Have I been a wilderness to Israel
or a land of thick darkness?
Why then do my people say, “We are free;
we will come to you no more”?(B)
32 Can a young woman forget her ornaments
or a bride her attire?
Yet my people have forgotten me,
days without number.(C)
Footnotes
- 2.31 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Jeremiah 2:30-32
New English Translation
30 “It did no good for me to punish your people.
They did not respond to such correction.
You slaughtered your prophets
like a voracious lion.[a]
31 You people of this generation,
listen to the Lord’s message:
“Have I been like a wilderness to you, Israel?
Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to you?[b]
Why then do you[c] say, ‘We are free to wander.[d]
We will not come to you anymore?’
32 Does a young woman forget to put on her jewels?
Does a bride forget to put on her bridal attire?
But my people have forgotten me
for more days than can even be counted.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 2:30 tn Heb “Your sword devoured your prophets like a destroying lion.” However, the reference to the sword in this and many similar idioms is merely idiomatic for death by violent means.
- Jeremiah 2:31 tn Heb “a land of the darkness of Yah [= thick or deep darkness].” The idea of danger is an added connotation in this context.
- Jeremiah 2:31 tn Heb “my people.”
- Jeremiah 2:31 tn Or more freely, “free to do as we please.” The meaning of this verb (רוּד, rud) is debated in the few passages where it occurs. The key to its meaning may rest in the emended text (reading וְרַדְתִּי [veradti] for וְיָרַדְתִּי [veyaradti]) in Judg 11:37, where it refers to the roaming of Jephthah’s daughter on the mountains of Israel.
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