Jeremiah 2:2

2:2 “Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem: ¹  ‘This is what the Lord says: “I have fond memories of you, ²  how devoted you were to me in your early years. ³  I remember how you loved me like a new bride; you followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted.

Jeremiah 6:16

6:16 The Lord said to his people: ⁴ 

“You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. ⁵ 

Ask where the old, reliable paths ⁶  are.

Ask where the path is that leads to blessing ⁷  and follow it.

If you do, you will find rest for your souls.”

But they said, “We will not follow it!”

Jeremiah 13:10

13:10 These wicked people refuse to obey what I have said. ⁸  They follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts and pay allegiance ⁹  to other gods by worshiping and serving them. So ¹⁰  they will become just like these linen shorts which are good for nothing.

Jeremiah 18:18

Jeremiah Petitions the Lord to Punish Those Who Attack Him

18:18 Then some people ¹¹  said, “Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! ¹²  There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God’s word. ¹³  Come on! Let’s bring charges against him and get rid of him! ¹⁴  Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says.”

Jeremiah 41:6

41:6 Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them. He was pretending to cry ¹⁵  as he walked along. When he met them, he said to them, “Come with me to meet Gedaliah son of Ahikam.” ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 50:4

50:4 “When that time comes,” says the Lord, ¹⁷ 

“the people of Israel and Judah will return to the land together.

They will come back with tears of repentance

as they seek the Lord their God. ¹⁸ 

¹ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

² tn Heb “I remember to/for you.”

³ tn Heb “the loyal love of your youth.”

⁴ tn The words, “to his people” are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

⁵ tn Heb “Stand at the crossroads and look.”

⁶ tn Heb “the ancient path,” i.e., the path the Lord set out in ancient times (cf. Deut 32:7).

⁷ tn Heb “the way of/to the good.”

⁷ tn Heb “to listen to my words.”

⁸ tn Heb “and [they follow] after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

⁹ tn The structure of this verse is a little unusual. It consists of a subject, “this wicked people” qualified by several “which” clauses preceding a conjunction and a form which would normally be taken as a third person imperative (a Hebrew jussive; וִיהִי, vihi). This construction, called casus pendens by Hebrew grammarians, lays focus on the subject, here calling attention to the nature of Israel’s corruption which makes it rotten and useless to God. See GKC 458 §143.d for other examples of this construction.

¹⁰ tn Heb “They.” The referent is unidentified; “some people” has been used in the translation.

¹¹ tn Heb “Let us make plans against Jeremiah.” See 18:18 where this has sinister overtones as it does here.

¹² tn Heb “Instruction will not perish from priest, counsel from the wise, word from the prophet.”

¹³ tn Heb “Let us smite him with our tongues.” It is clear from the context that this involved plots to kill him.

¹³ tn Heb “he was weeping/crying.” The translation is intended to better reflect the situation.

¹⁴ tn Heb “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” The words that are supplied in the translation are implicit to the situation and are added for clarity.

¹⁶ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “and the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together. They shall go, weeping as they go, and they will seek the Lord their God.” The concept of “seeking” the Lord often has to do with seeking the Lord in worship (by sacrifice [Hos 5:6; 2 Chr 11:16]; prayer [Zech 8:21, 22; 2 Sam 12:16; Isa 65:1; 2 Chr 15:4]). In Hos 7:10 it is in parallel with returning to the Lord. In Ps 69:6 it is in parallel with hoping in or trusting in the Lord. Perhaps the most helpful parallels here, however, are Hos 3:5 (in comparison with Jer 30:9) and 2 Chr 15:15 where it is in the context of a covenant commitment to be loyal to the Lord which is similar to the context here (see the next verse). The translation is admittedly paraphrastic but “seeking the Lord” does not mean here looking for God as though he were merely a person to be found.