Jeremiah 1:15

1:15 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 ¹  near the entrances of the gates of Jerusalem. ²  They will attack all the walls surrounding it, and all the towns in Judah. ³ 

Jeremiah 5:15-16

5:15 The Lord says, ⁴  “Listen, ⁵  nation of Israel! ⁶ 

I am about to bring a nation from far away to attack you.

It will be a nation that was founded long ago

and has lasted for a long time.

It will be a nation whose language you will not know.

Its people will speak words that you will not be able to understand.

5:16 All of its soldiers are strong and mighty. ⁷ 

Their arrows will send you to your grave. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 6:1

The Destruction of Jerusalem Depicted

6:1 “Run for safety, people of Benjamin!

Get out of Jerusalem! ⁹ 

Sound the trumpet ¹⁰  in Tekoa!

Light the signal fires at Beth Hakkerem!

For disaster lurks ¹¹  out of the north;

it will bring great destruction. ¹² 

Jeremiah 6:22-26

6:22 “This is what the Lord says:

‘Beware! An army ¹³  is coming from a land in the north.

A mighty nation is stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth.

6:23 Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears.

They are cruel and show no mercy.

They sound like the roaring sea

as they ride forth on their horses.

Lined up in formation like men going into battle

to attack you, Daughter Zion.’” ¹⁴ 

6:24 The people cry out, ¹⁵  “We have heard reports about them!

We have become helpless with fear! ¹⁶ 

Anguish grips us,

agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby!

6:25 Do not go out into the countryside.

Do not travel on the roads.

For the enemy is there with sword in hand. ¹⁷ 

They are spreading terror everywhere.” ¹⁸ 

6:26 So I said, ¹⁹  “Oh, my dear people, ²⁰  put on sackcloth

and roll in ashes.

Mourn with painful sobs

as though you had lost your only child.

For any moment now ²¹  that destructive army ²² 

will come against us.”

Jeremiah 8:16

8:16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses

is already being heard in the city of Dan.

The sound of the neighing of their stallions ²³ 

causes the whole land to tremble with fear.

They are coming to destroy the land and everything in it!

They are coming to destroy ²⁴  the cities and everyone who lives in them!”

Leviticus 26:25-46

26:25 I will bring on you an avenging sword, a covenant vengeance. ²⁵  Although ²⁶  you will gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you and you will be given into enemy hands. ²⁷  26:26 When I break off your supply of bread, ²⁸  ten women will bake your bread in one oven; they will ration your bread by weight, ²⁹  and you will eat and not be satisfied.

26:27 “‘If in spite of this ³⁰  you do not obey me but walk in hostility against me, ³¹  26:28 I will walk in hostile rage against you ³²  and I myself will also discipline you seven times on account of your sins. 26:29 You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. ³³  26:30 I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars, ³⁴  and I will stack your dead bodies on top of the lifeless bodies of your idols. ³⁵  I will abhor you. ³⁶  26:31 I will lay your cities waste ³⁷  and make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will refuse to smell your soothing aromas. 26:32 I myself will make the land desolate and your enemies who live in it will be appalled. 26:33 I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword ³⁸  after you, so your land will become desolate and your cities will become a waste.

26:34 “‘Then the land will make up for ³⁹  its Sabbaths all the days it lies desolate while you are in the land of your enemies; then the land will rest and make up its Sabbaths. 26:35 All the days of the desolation it will have the rest it did not have ⁴⁰  on your Sabbaths when you lived on it.

26:36 “‘As for ⁴¹  the ones who remain among you, I will bring despair into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a blowing leaf will pursue them, and they will flee as one who flees the sword and fall down even though there is no pursuer. 26:37 They will stumble over each other as those who flee before a sword, though ⁴²  there is no pursuer, and there will be no one to take a stand ⁴³  for you before your enemies. 26:38 You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will consume you.

Restoration through Confession and Repentance

26:39 “‘As for the ones who remain among you, they will rot away because of ⁴⁴  their iniquity in the lands of your enemies, and they will also rot away because of their ancestors’ ⁴⁵  iniquities which are with them. 26:40 However, when ⁴⁶  they confess their iniquity and their ancestors’ iniquity which they committed by trespassing against me, ⁴⁷  by which they also walked ⁴⁸  in hostility against me ⁴⁹  26:41 (and I myself will walk in hostility against them and bring them into the land of their enemies), and ⁵⁰  then their uncircumcised hearts become humbled and they make up for ⁵¹  their iniquity, 26:42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, ⁵²  and I will remember the land. 26:43 The land will be abandoned by them ⁵³  in order that it may make up for ⁵⁴  its Sabbaths while it is made desolate ⁵⁵  without them, ⁵⁶  and they will make up for their iniquity because ⁵⁷  they have rejected my regulations and have abhorred ⁵⁸  my statutes. 26:44 In spite of this, however, when they are in the land of their enemies I will not reject them and abhor them to make a complete end of them, to break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. 26:45 I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors ⁵⁹  whom I brought out from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’”

Summary Colophon

26:46 These are the statutes, regulations, and instructions which the Lord established ⁶⁰  between himself and the Israelites at Mount Sinai through ⁶¹  Moses.

Deuteronomy 28:45-50

28:45 All these curses will fall on you, pursuing and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping his commandments and statutes that he has given ⁶²  you. 28:46 These curses ⁶³  will be a perpetual sign and wonder with reference to you and your descendants. ⁶⁴ 

The Curse of Military Siege

28:47 “Because you have not served the Lord your God joyfully and wholeheartedly with the abundance of everything you have, 28:48 instead in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and poverty ⁶⁵  you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. They ⁶⁶  will place an iron yoke on your neck until they have destroyed you. 28:49 The Lord will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other side of the earth ⁶⁷  as the eagle flies, ⁶⁸  a nation whose language you will not understand, 28:50 a nation of stern appearance that will have no regard for the elderly or pity for the young.

Proverbs 21:1

21:1 The king’s heart ⁶⁹  is in the hand ⁷⁰  of the Lord like channels of water; ⁷¹ 

he turns it wherever he wants.

Isaiah 5:26-30

5:26 He lifts a signal flag for a distant nation, ⁷² 

he whistles for it to come from the far regions of the earth.

Look, they ⁷³  come quickly and swiftly.

5:27 None tire or stumble,

they don’t stop to nap or sleep.

They don’t loosen their belts,

or unstrap their sandals to rest. ⁷⁴ 

5:28 Their arrows are sharpened,

and all their bows are prepared. ⁷⁵ 

The hooves of their horses are hard as flint, ⁷⁶ 

and their chariot wheels are like a windstorm. ⁷⁷ 

5:29 Their roar is like a lion’s;

they roar like young lions.

They growl and seize their prey;

they drag it away and no one can come to the rescue.

5:30 At that time ⁷⁸  they will growl over their prey, ⁷⁹ 

it will sound like sea waves crashing against rocks. ⁸⁰ 

One will look out over the land and see the darkness of disaster,

clouds will turn the light into darkness. ⁸¹ 

Isaiah 10:5

The Lord Turns on Arrogant Assyria

10:5 Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger, is as good as dead, ⁸² 

a cudgel with which I angrily punish. ⁸³ 

Isaiah 39:7

39:7 ‘Some of your very own descendants whom you father ⁸⁴  will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

Habakkuk 1:6-10

1:6 Look, I am about to empower ⁸⁵  the Babylonians,

that ruthless ⁸⁶  and greedy ⁸⁷  nation.

They sweep across the surface ⁸⁸  of the earth,

seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them.

1:7 They are frightening and terrifying;

they decide for themselves what is right. ⁸⁹ 

1:8 Their horses are faster than leopards

and more alert ⁹⁰  than wolves in the desert. ⁹¹ 

Their horses ⁹²  gallop, ⁹³ 

their horses come a great distance;

like a vulture ⁹⁴  they swoop down quickly to devour their prey. ⁹⁵ 

1:9 All of them intend ⁹⁶  to do violence;

every face is determined. ⁹⁷ 

They take prisoners as easily as one scoops up sand. ⁹⁸ 

1:10 They mock kings

and laugh at rulers.

They laugh at every fortified city;

they build siege ramps ⁹⁹  and capture them.

[1:15]  ¹ 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.

[1:15]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:15]  ³ 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.

[5:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[5:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “Behold!”

[5:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “house of Israel.”

[5:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “All of them are mighty warriors.”

[5:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “his quiver [is] an open grave.” The order of the lines has been reversed to make the transition from “nation” to “their arrows” easier.

[6:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “Flee for safety, people of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem.”

[6:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.

[6:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “leans down” or “looks down.” This verb personifies destruction leaning/looking down from its window in the sky, ready to attack.

[6:1]  ¹² tn Heb “[It will be] a severe fracture.” The nation is pictured as a limb being fractured.

[6:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “people.”

[6:23]  ¹⁴ sn Jerualem is personified as a young maiden helpless before enemy attackers.

[6:24]  ¹⁵ tn These words are not in the text, but, from the context, someone other than God is speaking and is speaking for and to the people (either Jeremiah or the people themselves). These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:24]  ¹⁶ tn Or “We have lost our strength to do battle”; Heb “Our hands hang limp [or helpless at our sides].” According to BDB 951 s.v. רָפָה Qal.2, this idiom is used figuratively for losing heart or energy. The best example of its figurative use of loss of strength or the feeling of helplessness is in Ezek 21:12 where it appears in the context of the heart (courage) melting, the spirit sinking, and the knees becoming like water. For other examples compare 2 Sam 4:1; Zeph 3:16. In Neh 6:9 it is used literally of the builders “dropping their hands from the work” out of fear. The words “with fear” are supplied in the translation because they are implicit in the context.

[6:25]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “For the enemy has a sword.”

[6:25]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Terror is all around!”

[6:26]  ¹⁹ tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the context.

[6:26]  ²⁰ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the translator’s note there.

[6:26]  ²¹ tn Heb “suddenly.”

[6:26]  ²² tn Heb “the destroyer.”

[8:16]  ²³ tn Heb “his stallions.”

[8:16]  ²⁴ tn The words “They are coming to destroy” are not in the text. They are inserted to break up a long sentence in conformity with contemporary English style.

[26:25]  ²⁵ tn Heb “vengeance of covenant”; cf. NAB “the avenger of my covenant.”

[26:25]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) has a concessive force in this context.

[26:25]  ²⁷ tn Heb “in hand of enemy,” but Tg. Ps.-J. and Tg. Neof. have “in the hands of your enemies” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 454).

[26:26]  ²⁸ tn Heb “When I break to you staff of bread” (KJV, ASV, and NASB all similar).

[26:26]  ²⁹ tn Heb “they will return your bread in weight.”

[26:27]  ³⁰ tn Heb “And if in this.”

[26:27]  ³¹ tn Heb “with me.”

[26:28]  ³² tn Heb “in rage of hostility with you”; NASB “with wrathful hostility”; NRSV “I will continue hostile to you in fury”; CEV “I’ll get really furious.”

[26:29]  ³³ tn Heb “and the flesh of your daughters you will eat.” The phrase “you will eat” has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[26:30]  ³⁴ sn Regarding these cultic installations, see the remarks in B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 188, and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:903. The term rendered “incense altars” might better be rendered “sanctuaries [of foreign deities]” or “stelae.”

[26:30]  ³⁵ tn The translation reflects the Hebrew wordplay “your corpses…the corpses of your idols.” Since idols, being lifeless, do not really have “corpses,” the translation uses “dead bodies” for people and “lifeless bodies” for the idols.

[26:30]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and my soul will abhor you.”

[26:31]  ³⁷ tn Heb “And I will give your cities a waste”; NLT “make your cities desolate.”

[26:33]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and I will empty sword” (see HALOT 1228 s.v. ריק 3).

[26:34]  ³⁹ tn There are two Hebrew roots רָצָה (ratsah), one meaning “to be pleased with; to take pleasure” (HALOT 1280-81 s.v. רצה; cf. “enjoy” in NASB, NIV, NRSV, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 452), and the other meaning “to restore” (HALOT 1281-82 s.v. II רצה; cf. NAB “retrieve” and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 189).

[26:35]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “it shall rest which it did not rest.”

[26:36]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “And.”

[26:37]  ⁴² tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) is used in a concessive sense here.

[26:37]  ⁴³ tn The term rendered “to stand up” is a noun, not an infinitive. It occurs only here and appears to designate someone who would take a powerful stand for them against their enemies.

[26:39]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “in” (so KJV, ASV; also later in this verse).

[26:39]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “fathers’” (also in the following verse).

[26:40]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “And.” Many English versions take this to be a conditional clause (“if…”) though there is no conditional particle (see, e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV; but see the very different rendering in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 190). The temporal translation offered here (“when”) takes into account the particle אָז (’az, “then”), which occurs twice in v. 41. The obvious contextual contrast between vv. 39 and 40 is expressed by “however” in the translation.

[26:40]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “in their trespassing which they trespassed in me.” See the note on Lev 5:15, although the term is used in a more technical sense there in relation to the “guilt offering.”

[26:40]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “and also which they walked.”

[26:40]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “with me.”

[26:41]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “or then,” although the LXX has “then” and the Syriac “and then.”

[26:41]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and then they make up for.” On the verb “make up for” see the note on v. 34 above.

[26:42]  ⁵² tn Heb “my covenant with Abraham I will remember.” The phrase “I will remember” has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[26:43]  ⁵³ tn Heb “from them.” The preposition “from” refers here to the agent of the action (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 455).

[26:43]  ⁵⁴ tn The jussive form of the verb with the simple vav (ו) here calls for a translation that expresses purpose.

[26:43]  ⁵⁵ tn The verb is the Hophal infinitive construct with the third feminine singular suffix (GKC 182 §67.y; cf. v. 34).

[26:43]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “from them.”

[26:43]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “because and in because,” a double expression, which is used only here and in Ezek 13:10 (without the vav) for emphasis (GKC 492 §158.b).

[26:43]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “and their soul has abhorred.”

[26:45]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “covenant of former ones.”

[26:46]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “gave” (so NLT); KJV, ASV, NCV “made.”

[26:46]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “by the hand of” (so KJV).

[28:45]  ⁶² tn Heb “commanded”; NAB, NIV, TEV “he gave you.”

[28:46]  ⁶³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the curses mentioned previously) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:46]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “seed” (so KJV, ASV).

[28:48]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “lack of everything.”

[28:48]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “he” (also later in this verse). The pronoun is a collective singular referring to the enemies (cf. CEV, NLT). Many translations understand the singular pronoun to refer to the Lord (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV).

[28:49]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “from the end of the earth.”

[28:49]  ⁶⁸ tn Some translations understand this to mean “like an eagle swoops down” (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), comparing the swift attack of an eagle to the attack of the Israelites’ enemies.

[21:1]  ⁶⁹ sn “Heart” is a metonymy of subject; it signifies the ability to make decisions, if not the decisions themselves.

[21:1]  ⁷⁰ sn “Hand” in this passage is a personification; the word is frequently used idiomatically for “power,” and that is the sense intended here.

[21:1]  ⁷¹ tn “Channels of water” (פַּלְגֵי, palge) is an adverbial accusative, functioning as a figure of comparison – “like channels of water.” Cf. NAB “Like a stream”; NIV “watercourse”; NRSV, NLT “a stream of water.”

[5:26]  ⁷² tc The Hebrew text has literally, “for nations from a distance.” The following verses use singular forms to describe this nation, so the final mem (ם) on לְגּוֹיִם (lÿgoyim) may be enclitic or dittographic. In the latter case one could read לְגוֹי מֵרָחוֹק (lÿgoy merakhoq, “for a nation from a distance”; see Deut 28:49; Joel 3:8). Another possibility is to emend the text from לַגּוֹיִם מֵרָחוֹק (laggoyim merakhoq) to לְגוֹי מִמֶּרְחָק (lÿgoy mimmerkhaq, “for a nation from a distant place”) a phrase which occurs in Jer 5:15. In this case an error of misdivision has occurred in MT, the mem of the prefixed preposition being accidentally taken as a plural ending on the preceding word.

[5:26]  ⁷³ tn Heb “he.” Singular forms are used throughout vv. 26-30 to describe this nation, but for stylistic reasons the translation uses the plural for these collective singulars.

[5:27]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “and the belt on his waist is not opened, and the thong of his sandals is not torn in two.”

[5:28]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “bent” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “are strung.”

[5:28]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “regarded like flint.”

[5:28]  ⁷⁷ sn They are like a windstorm in their swift movement and in the way they kick up dust.

[5:30]  ⁷⁸ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[5:30]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “over it”; the referent (the prey) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:30]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “like the growling of the sea.”

[5:30]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “and one will gaze toward the land, and look, darkness of distress, and light will grow dark by its [the land’s?] clouds.”

[10:5]  ⁸² tn Heb “Woe [to] Assyria, the club of my anger.” On הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) see the note on the first phrase of 1:4.

[10:5]  ⁸³ tn Heb “a cudgel is he, in their hand is my anger.” It seems likely that the final mem (ם) on בְיָדָם (bÿyadam) is not a pronominal suffix (“in their hand”), but an enclitic mem. If so, one can translate literally, “a cudgel is he in the hand of my anger.”

[39:7]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “Some of your sons, who go out from you, whom you father.”

[1:6]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “raise up” (so KJV, ASV).

[1:6]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “bitter.” Other translation options for this word in this context include “fierce” (NASB, NRSV); “savage” (NEB); or “grim.”

[1:6]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “hasty, quick.” Some translate here “impetuous” (so NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “rash,” but in this context greed may very well be the idea. The Babylonians move quickly and recklessly ahead in their greedy quest to expand their empire.

[1:6]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “the open spaces.”

[1:7]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “from him his justice, even his lifting up, goes out.” In this context שְׂאֵת (sÿ’et) probably has the nuance “authority.” See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 150.

[1:8]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “sharper,” in the sense of “keener” or “more alert.” Some translate “quicker” on the basis of the parallelism with the first line (see HALOT 291 s.v. חדד).

[1:8]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “wolves of the evening,” that is, wolves that prowl at night. The present translation assumes an emendation to עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “desert”). On this phrase see also Zeph 3:3.

[1:8]  ⁹² tn Or “horsemen,” “cavalry.”

[1:8]  ⁹³ tn The precise nuance of the rare verb פָּוַשׁ (parash) is unclear here. Elsewhere it is used of animals jumping or leaping (see Jer 50:11; Mal 4:2).

[1:8]  ⁹⁴ tn Or “eagle” (so NASB, NRSV). The term can refer to either eagles or vultures, but in this context of gruesome destruction and death “vulture” is preferred.

[1:8]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “they fly like a vulture/an eagle quickly to devour.” The direct object “their prey” is not included in the Hebrew text but is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ⁹⁶ tn Heb “come.”

[1:9]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “The totality of their faces is to the east” (or “is forward”). The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מְגַמַּת (megammat) is unclear. For a discussion of options see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 93. NEB has “a sea of faces rolls on”; NIV “their hordes advance like a desert wind”; NRSV “with faces pressing forward.”

[1:9]  ⁹⁸ tn Heb “and he gathers like sand, prisoners.”

[1:10]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “they heap up dirt.” This is a reference to the piling up of earthen ramps in the process of laying siege to a fortified city.