Jeremiah 18:20

18:20 Should good be paid back with evil?

Yet they are virtually digging a pit to kill me. ¹ 

Just remember how I stood before you

pleading on their behalf ² 

to keep you from venting your anger on them. ³ 

Jeremiah 21:10

21:10 For I, the Lord, say that ⁴  I am determined not to deliver this city but to bring disaster on it. ⁵  It will be handed over to the king of Babylon and he will destroy it with fire.’” ⁶ 

Jeremiah 24:6

24:6 I will look after their welfare ⁷  and will restore them to this land. There I will build them up and will not tear them down. I will plant them firmly in the land ⁸  and will not uproot them. ⁹ 

¹ tn Or “They are plotting to kill me”; Heb “They have dug a pit for my soul.” This is a common metaphor for plotting against someone. See BDB 500 s.v. כָּרָה Qal and for an example see Pss 7:16 (7:15 HT) in its context.

² tn Heb “to speak good concerning them” going back to the concept of “good” being paid back with evil.

³ tn Heb “to turn back your anger from them.”

⁴ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

⁵ tn Heb “I have set my face against this city for evil [i.e., disaster] and not for good [i.e., well-being].” For the use of the idiom “set one’s face against/toward” see, e.g., usage in 1 Kgs 2:15; 2 Kgs 2:17; Jer 42:15, 17 and note the interesting interplay of usage in Jer 44:11-12.

⁶ tn Heb “he will burn it with fire.”

⁷ tn Heb “I will set my eyes upon them for good.” For the nuance of “good” see Jer 21:10; Amos 9:4 (in these cases the opposite of harm; see BDB 375 s.v. טוֹבָה 1).

⁸ tn The words “There” and “firmly in the land” are not in the text but are implicit from the connection and the metaphor. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁹ sn For these terms see Jer 1:10.