Jeremiah 23:24

23:24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself

where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. ¹ 

“Do you not know that I am everywhere?” ² 

the Lord asks. ³ 

Jeremiah 23:26

23:26 Those prophets are just prophesying lies. They are prophesying the delusions of their own minds. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 23:32

23:32 I, the Lord, affirm ⁵  that I am opposed to those prophets who dream up lies and report them. They are misleading my people with their reckless lies. ⁶  I did not send them. I did not commission them. They are not helping these people at all. ⁷  I, the Lord, affirm it!” ⁸ 

[23:24]  ¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:24]  ² tn The words “Don’t you know” are not in the text. They are a way of conveying the idea that the question which reads literally “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” expects a positive answer. They follow the pattern used at the beginning of the previous two questions and continue that thought. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:24]  ³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:26]  ⁴ sn See the parallel passage in Jer 14:13-15.

[23:32]  ⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:32]  ⁶ tn Heb “with their lies and their recklessness.” This is an example of hendiadys where two nouns (in this case a concrete and an abstract one) are joined by “and” but one is intended to be the adjectival modifier of the other.

[23:32]  ⁷ sn In the light of what has been said this is a rhetorical understatement; they are not only “not helping,” they are leading them to their doom (cf. vv. 19-22). This figure of speech is known as litotes.

[23:32]  ⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”