Beginning
14 The word of the Eternal came to Jeremiah about the coming droughts.
A series of droughts come upon the land of Judah, making life very difficult for the people. Even the animals suffer as God holds back the rain.
2 Eternal One: Judah mourns and her cities grow weak;
her people collapse to the ground in grief.
The cries of Jerusalem echo through the city.
3 The nobles send their servants for water that is not there.
They come to cisterns only to return home with their jars empty.
They have all been shamed, humiliated,
so they cover their heads.
4 The fields are dry and the ground is cracked because there is no rain.
The farmers suffer shame; they, too, cover their heads.
5 Even the animals of the field struggle:
the devoted doe walks away from her newborn fawn,
all because there is no grass to be found.
6 The wild donkeys stand on barren hills panting like jackals in the dry heat.
With no plants to eat, their bodies weaken—their eyes grow dim.
7 People (to God): We know our guilt cries out against us,
but O Eternal One, step in now and do something!
For the sake of Your own good name, help us.
It’s true—our betrayals are many, so much have we sinned against You.
8 But O Hope of Israel, her Savior in times of trouble, don’t forget us!
Why are You acting like a stranger here in Your own land,
Treating us like some traveler who’s only staying for the night?
9 Why do You seem surprised,
like a warrior who cannot defend us?
But we know You are here, among us even now.
Eternal One—we are Your people.
You know us by name;
do not disown us!
Eternal One: 10 (about His people) All this is true, but they love to wander from Me; they cannot control their restless feet—which are constantly running after other gods. That is why I won’t accept them and take them back. I will remember their guilt and hold them accountable for their sins.
11 (to Jeremiah) Do not pray for this people’s well being. 12 They will try to impress Me again, but when they fast, I will not hear their cry; when they bring Me their burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept any of them. Instead, I will offer to them their own destruction by war, by famine, and by disease.
Jeremiah: 13 But Eternal Lord, there are prophets in the land who keep telling the people none of this will happen. They claim to speak for You, saying, “No war or famine will come to you. Instead, I will give you peace and security in this place.”
Eternal One: 14 But these so-called prophets are “prophesying” lies. And they do so in My name! I have said no such thing. I have not sent them and directed them to speak in My name. Their prophecies are based on false visions, faulty revelation, and dark delusions of their own making.
15 This is what the Eternal says regarding the false prophets who attempt to speak in His name.
Eternal One: I simply did not send them. Those who are proclaiming to the people, “No war or famine will touch this land,” will themselves die in war and famine. 16 And those foolish enough to listen to their prophecies will be tossed into the streets of Jerusalem, weakened by famine, victims of war. They will die, and there will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters because I will pour out their own evil upon them.
17 God told me to speak these words to them:
Jeremiah: May my eyes fill with tears day and night.
Let me not stop crying for what I see:
for my tender virgin daughter—my people—
Has suffered a crushing blow.
I see her now with a serious, gaping wound.
18 If I go to the countryside, I see the bodies of those cut down in war;
if I walk into the city, I see the misery brought on by famine.
And yet the prophets and priests go about their business in blissful ignorance,
unaware of what they are doing.
19 (to God) Have You abandoned Judah completely?
Do You now hate Zion?
Why have You wounded us beyond healing?
We longed for peace, but nothing good ever came.
We hoped for healing, but only terror came our way.
20 We admit our wickedness, O Eternal One.
We confess the sins of our ancestors.
We know we, too, have sinned against You.
21 For the sake of Your good name, do not disown us;
do not dishonor the throne of Your glory.
O God, remember Your people!
Do not break Your covenant with us.
22 Do any of the foreign idols bring the rain?
Do the showers fall from heaven by themselves?
No. They come from You, Eternal One our God.
That is why our hope is in You, for You alone do all this.
15 Eternal One (to Jeremiah): Even if Moses and Samuel stood before Me to defend this rebellious nation, I would not turn back to this people right now. Send them away from Me, Jeremiah; make them go! 2 And when they look to you and ask, “Where should we go?” tell them I, the Eternal, said,
For some, their destiny is deadly disease,
for others it is war,
And still others, their destiny is starvation,
and lastly, some are doomed to be captives of an enemy state.
3 I am sending four destroyers: the sword to slaughter, the dogs to drag away the carnage, the birds of the sky, and the wild beasts of the earth to devour and destroy what is left. 4 What I do to this evil nation will horrify the watching world for generations. What Manasseh (son of Hezekiah), king of Judah, did in Jerusalem will not be overlooked.
5 Who will have compassion on you, O Jerusalem?
Who will mourn for your losses?
Who will stop and ask how you are?
6 You have rejected Me time and again.
You keep backing away from Me, so I will reach out and destroy you.
I am weary of feeling sorry for you;
I will not relent this time.
7 Like a farmer, I will use my winnowing fork to remove the chaff at the city gates.
I will deprive them of their children.
I will destroy My own because they refuse to turn away
from their wicked and hurtful ways.
8 The widows in this land will outnumber the grains of sand by the sea.
As for the mothers of young men,
I will send the destroyer against them at midday, when no one is expecting.
In the blink of an eye, I will rain down terror and anguish on them.
9 The mother of seven suffers in her sadness;
gasping for breath, she realizes the sun has set even while it is day.
Alone and childless again, she is disgraced and ashamed.
As for those who survive the first wave of violence,
I will put them to the sword before their enemies.
So says the Eternal.
10 Jeremiah: Oh, the anguish that is mine!
If only you had not given birth to me, mother;
I feel like a man who fights and struggles with the whole land.
I have not lent money or borrowed from others.
So why am I treated this way?
Everyone is ready to curse me.
11 Eternal One (to Jeremiah): Hear me, Jeremiah:
I will make you strong in these trying times to accomplish My good.
I will make it so your enemies ask you to pray for them in times of disaster and suffering.
12 Can a man break iron that is forged in the north?
What about bronze?[a]
13 Because you have committed so many sins throughout the land,
I will freely hand over your wealth and treasures to this enemy as plunder.
14 I will incite your enemies to capture you and take you[b] off to a distant land you do not know.
I am doing this because My anger burns like a roaring fire that lasts forever.
The calling of God has left Jeremiah with a loneliness he can hardly bear. The words he must deliver, the sins he continually confronts, and the future God has revealed to him—they all lead to an unbearable isolation. God has heard the lonely cry of His prophet, and He has offered encouragement and a promise to strengthen Jeremiah. At this point, Jeremiah is enduring the pain with his assignment. In fact, in this agony, he openly questions and accuses God Himself.
15 Jeremiah: O Eternal One—You know what I am facing;
Remember me, and pay attention to my plight.
Take my side; pay back those who persecute me.
I know You are patient, but don’t let them take me away.
Think of the suffering I’ve endured for Your sake.
16 When I discovered Your words, I ate them up:
they were my great joy and my heart’s delight.
I am Yours, and I bear the name of the Eternal God,
Commander of heavenly armies.
17 I never sat in the circle of jokesters,
nor did I celebrate with them.
No. I stayed to myself, sat alone because Your hand was heavy on me;
You filled me with indignation over their sins.
18 So why does my pain never end?
Why does this wound never heal?
Will you be to me as deceptive and unreliable as a dry stream to a thirsty man?
19 Eternal One (to Jeremiah): If you will turn back to Me,
I will restore you—
and you will stand before Me.
If you will speak worthy words instead of worthless complaints,
You will be My spokesman.
Let the people come to you, but don’t go to them!
20 They will come at you, but I will make you like a wall of bronze against them.
They will not beat you, because I am with you to save and rescue you.
This will be so, for I have declared it.
21 I will rescue you from the hands of the wicked
and redeem you from the grasp of the violent.
16 The word of the Eternal came to me.
The loneliness Jeremiah has already endured is indeed painful. Surely he wants just one companion in whom he can confide; even that would be something. If only he could find solace in a loving spouse! Certainly society is composed of husbands and wives; even the worst people have families, while Jeremiah is alone. It now becomes clear that this isolation is his life’s calling. He is banned not only from starting his own family, but from being with others. He cannot enter into the sorrow of his people’s grief or enjoy any celebration in the community. To abstain from both the sorrow and joy of those around him ensures Jeremiah’s isolation. But it also raises important questions with painful answers. As always, God anticipates these questions.
Eternal One: 2 Jeremiah, you must not get married and have children in this place, 3 because this is what I, the Eternal One, say about the sons and daughters of this land and about their mothers and fathers: 4 They will die of deadly diseases. There will be so many dead that no one will bury them or grieve for them; they will be like dung scattered on the ground. Others will perish from war and famine, and their corpses will feed the vultures and wild beasts of the earth.
5 This is what I declare to you, My prophet: Do not go inside a house that is mourning. Do not grieve with these friends and families. Do not comfort them because I, the Eternal One, have taken My peace, even My loyal love and mercy, from them. 6 Death will come to the great and small of this land, but they will not be buried or mourned. There will be no one left to cut themselves or shave their heads in ritual displays of mourning. 7 No one will bring food to comfort those in mourning or offer a drink to console even one who has lost a parent. 8 You are not to enter a house where they are feasting and celebrating. Refuse to eat and drink with them. 9 For this is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, now declares: Before your eyes and during your lifetime, I will silence the sounds of laughter and joy in this place; the joy of a wedding will no longer be heard.
10 When you tell these people all of this, they will ask you, “Why has the Eternal decided to bring this horrendous evil on us? What have we done wrong? What sin have we committed against the Eternal our God?” 11 I want you to answer them with My words: All this is because your ancestors deserted Me and followed after other gods. They served and worshiped them, but Me they have deserted. My instruction they have ignored. 12 As for you, you are even worse than your ancestors because every one of your hearts is evil and stubborn, and you continue to ignore Me as you follow your own wicked ways. 13 For this reason, I will throw you out of this land into a land you and your ancestors have never known. There you will be able to serve these other gods all you want—day and night—for I will show you no compassion.
This horrible vision of judgment is tempered with words of God’s gracious restoration. Though the sentence against faithless Judah is harsh, it will not be the end of her.
(to the people) 14 Look, days are coming when people will remember how I restored you. They will no longer say, “As the Eternal lives who brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.” 15 Instead, they will say, “As the Eternal lives, who brought the people of Israel out of the lands of the north and the countries where He had exiled them.” For I will bring them back to their promised land, the land I gave to your ancestors.
16 But first, I will send for many fishermen who will catch them. After this, I will summon many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and every hill, in every crack and crevice of this land. 17 My eyes are fixed on all they are doing. Nothing is hidden from Me; their sins are exposed before My eyes. 18 For their wickedness and sin—polluting My land with the lifeless husks of their disgusting idols, taking what is Mine and filling it with these abominable things—I will repay them doubly.
Jeremiah: 19 O Eternal One, You are my strength,
my fortress, my sanctuary in times of trouble.
The day will come when the nations will come from all over the world and admit,
“Our ancestors were fools! They inherited and clung to empty lies,
Worthless gods that gained them nothing good.
20 Can people make their own gods?
No, because a man-made idol is not a god.”
21 Eternal One: Behold, I will teach these people.
This time, they will learn of My power and strength.
I will teach them, and they will know and fully understand that I am the Eternal.
17 Eternal One: Judah’s sin is engraved on the tablets of their hearts, inscribed on the horns of their altars with an iron tool, tipped with a diamond point. 2 Their children remember their pagan altars and the sacred poles[c] used in idol worship beside leafy green trees on high hills. 3 I will see that My mountain in the land, your nation’s wealth, and all your treasures will be handed over as plunder to your enemies. I will even give your pagan high places to pay the cost for the sins you committed all over Judah. 4 You’ll let this inheritance I gave you slip through your fingers. I will make you slaves to your enemies in a land you have never known because you have stirred My anger into a roaring fire that will last forever.
5 Cursed is the one who trusts in human strength and the abilities of mere mortals.
His very heart strays from the Eternal.
6 He is like a little shrub in the desert that never grows;
he will see no good thing come his way.
He will live in a desert wasteland,
a barren land of salt where no one lives.
7 But blessed is the one who trusts in Me alone;
the Eternal will be his confidence.
8 He is like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots beside the stream.
It does not fear the heat or even drought.
Its leaves stay green and its fruit is dependable, no matter what it faces.
The choices and consequences are clear. Rely on people alone, and life will be tough and brutish. Rely on the one True God, and life will be rich and productive.
9 The heart is most devious and incurably sick.
Who can understand it?
10 It is I, the Eternal One, who probes the innermost heart
and examines the innermost thoughts.
I will compensate each person justly,
according to his ways and by what his actions deserve.
11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs that are not hers,
so is the person who gains wealth unfairly.
In the middle of his life a fool’s money will abandon him.
In the end he, too, will be shown for what he is—a fool.
12 Jeremiah (to God): But from the beginning, Your throne of glory,
our holy place, has always been exalted.
13 O Eternal One, the hope of Israel,
all who forsake You will be put to shame.
Those who turn their backs on You will be written in the dirt,
because they have forsaken You, the spring of living water.
14 Heal me, O Eternal One, and I will be healed.
You alone can save me; to You alone do I sing my praise.
15 The scoffers keep mocking me, saying,
“Where is the word of the Eternal you keep talking about?
Why haven’t His words come to pass?”
16 You know I have not run from my calling—
I have been a shepherd to Your people as You commanded.
I have not secretly desired the day of disaster and sorrow.
You know everything I’ve spoken to these people,
because it was the task You’d set before me.
17 Do not turn and terrify me.
Be my refuge when the dreaded day of reckoning comes.
18 Bring shame on those who persecute me, but save me from that shame.
Bring terror on them, but save me from that terror.
Bring them to the day of disaster; shatter them, destroy them with double the destruction.
Eternal One (to Jeremiah): 19 Go, stand at the public gate of Jerusalem, the one through which the kings of Judah come and go; then take up your post at the other gates around the city. 20 Say to them, Listen, you kings of Judah, you people of Judah, you citizens of Jerusalem, and any who pass through these gates. Listen to the words of the Eternal; 21 this is what He says: “For the welfare of your lives and the good of this city, be careful! Stop violating My Sabbaths by carrying your loads through Jerusalem’s gates on the Sabbath day. 22 Do not bring your loads out of the house on that day—do not work at all on the Sabbath. Keep the Sabbath day holy as I commanded your ancestors all those years ago.[d] 23 But even then, they did not listen or pay attention to Me; instead, they stiffened their resolve not to listen or accept any instruction from Me.
24 “But if you will listen to My words and obey Me by not carrying your loads through these city gates on the Sabbath, if you will live differently on the Sabbath, differently from the rest of your week by not working on it, I promise Jerusalem will be your home forever. 25 The family of David will always reign on his throne here. The kings and rulers of this land will pass through these gates in chariots and on horses. As for their officers, the people of Judah, and the citizens of Jerusalem, they will live securely in this city forever. 26 People will come from Jerusalem’s surrounding villages and the towns and the regions in Judah. They will come from the territory of Benjamin, from the rolling hills in the west, from the hill country, and from the Negev wilderness. They will bring their burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings, incense, and freewill offerings to the Eternal’s temple. 27 But if you refuse to obey Me—if you continue to bring your loads though the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath even though I’ve separated that day as a time of rest—you will be punished. I will kindle a fire to these very gates that cannot be quenched, and all Jerusalem will burn—even her palaces.”
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.