Jeremiah 2:26

2:26 Just as a thief has to suffer dishonor when he is caught,

so the people of Israel ¹  will suffer dishonor for what they have done. ² 

So will their kings and officials,

their priests and their prophets.

Jeremiah 5:31

5:31 The prophets prophesy lies.

The priests exercise power by their own authority. ³ 

And my people love to have it this way.

But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes! ⁴ 

Jeremiah 6:7

6:7 As a well continually pours out fresh water

so it continually pours out wicked deeds. ⁵ 

Sounds of violence and destruction echo throughout it. ⁶ 

All I see are sick and wounded people.’ ⁷ 

Jeremiah 10:21

10:21 For our leaders ⁸  are stupid.

They have not sought the Lord’s advice. ⁹ 

So they do not act wisely,

and the people they are responsible for ¹⁰  have all been scattered.

Jeremiah 23:10

23:10 For the land is full of people unfaithful to him. ¹¹ 

They live wicked lives and they misuse their power. ¹² 

So the land is dried up ¹³  because it is under his curse. ¹⁴ 

The pastures in the wilderness are withered.

Jeremiah 29:28

29:28 For he has even sent a message to us here in Babylon. He wrote and told us, ¹⁵  “You will be there a long time. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.”’” ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 31:28

31:28 In the past I saw to it that they were uprooted and torn down, that they were destroyed and demolished. But now I will see to it that they are built up and firmly planted. ¹⁷  I, the Lord, affirm it!” ¹⁸ 

Jeremiah 34:11

34:11 But later ¹⁹  they had changed their minds. They had taken back their male and female slaves that they had freed and forced them to be slaves again. ²⁰ 

Jeremiah 39:12

39:12 “Find Jeremiah ²¹  and look out for him. ²²  Do not do anything to harm him, ²³  but do with him whatever he tells you.”

Jeremiah 46:26

46:26 I will hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar and his troops, who want to kill them. But later on, people will live in Egypt again as they did in former times. I, the Lord, affirm it!” ²⁴ 

Jeremiah 48:31

48:31 So I will weep with sorrow for Moab.

I will cry out in sadness for all of Moab.

I will moan ²⁵  for the people of Kir Heres.

Jeremiah 51:7

51:7 Babylonia had been a gold cup in the Lord’s hand.

She had made the whole world drunk.

The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath. ²⁶ 

So they have all gone mad. ²⁷ 

¹ tn Heb “house of Israel.”

² tn The words “for what they have done” are implicit in the comparison and are supplied in the translation for clarification.

³ tn Heb “they shall rule at their hands.” Since the word “hand” can be used figuratively for authority or mean “side” and the pronoun “them” can refer to the priests themselves or the prophets, the following translations have also been suggested: “the priests rule under their [the prophets’] directions,” or “the priests rule in league with them [the prophets].” From the rest of the book it would appear that the prophets did not exercise authority over the priests nor did they exercise the same authority over the people that the priests did. Hence it probably mean “by their own hand/power/authority.”

⁴ tn Heb “But what will you do at its end?” The rhetorical question implies a negative answer: “Nothing!”

⁵ tc Heb “As a well makes cool/fresh its water, she makes cool/fresh her wickedness.” The translation follows the reading proposed by the Masoretes (Qere) which reads a rare form of the word “well” (בַּיִר [bayir] for בְּאֵר [bÿ’er]) in place of the form written in the text (Kethib, בּוֹר [bor]), which means “cistern.” The latter noun is masculine and the pronoun “its” is feminine. If indeed בַּיִר (bayir) is a byform of בְּאֵר (be’er), which is feminine, it would agree in gender with the pronoun. It also forms a more appropriate comparison since cisterns do not hold fresh water.

⁶ tn Heb “Violence and destruction are heard in it.”

⁷ tn Heb “Sickness and wound are continually before my face.”

⁷ tn Heb “the shepherds.”

⁸ tn Heb “They have not sought the Lord.”

⁹ tn Heb “all their flock (or “pasturage”).”

⁹ tn Heb “adulterers.” But spiritual adultery is clearly meant as also in 3:8-9; 9:2, and probably also 5:7.

¹⁰ tn For the word translated “They live…lives” see usage in Jer 8:6. For the idea of “misusing” their power (Heb “their power is not right” i.e., used in the wrong way) see 2 Kgs 7:9; 17:9. In the original text this line (really two lines in the Hebrew poetry) are at the end of the verse. However, this places the antecedent too far away and could lead to confusion. The lines have been rearranged to avoid such confusion.

¹¹ tn For the use of this verb see 12:4 and the note there.

¹² tc The translation follows the majority of Hebrew mss (מֵאָלָה, me’alah) rather than the Greek and Syriac version and a few Hebrew mss which read “because of these” (מֵאֵלֶּה [me’elleh], referring to the people unfaithful to him).

¹¹ tn Heb “For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying….” The quote, however, is part of the earlier letter.

¹² sn See v. 5.

¹³ tn Heb “Just as I watched over them to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and demolish, so I will watch over them to build and to plant.” The words here repeat those of 1:10 and 1:12.

¹⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

¹⁵ sn Most commentators are agreed that the incident referred to here occurred during the period of relief from the siege provided by the Babylonians going off to fight against the Egyptians who were apparently coming to Zedekiah’s aid (compare vv. 21-22 with 37:5, 7). The freeing of the slaves had occurred earlier, under the crisis of the siege while the people were more responsive to the Lord due to the threat of destruction (cf. v. 15).

¹⁶ tn Heb “they had brought them into subjection for male and female slaves.” However, the qualification of “male and female” is already clear from the preceding and is unnecessary to the English sentence.

¹⁷ tn Heb “Get [or fetch] him.” The referent is supplied for clarity.

¹⁸ tn Or “take care of him”; Heb “set your eyes on him.” For the meaning of this idiom see BDB 963 s.v. שִׂים 2.c and compare 24:6 where the phrase “for good” is added.

¹⁹ tn Heb “Don’t do anything evil [= harmful] to him.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

²¹ tc The translation is based on the emendation of the Hebrew third masculine singular (יֶהְגֶּה, yehggeh) to the first singular (אֶהְגֶּה, ’ehgeh). This emendation is assumed by almost all of the modern English versions and commentaries even though the textual evidence for it is weak (only one Hebrew ms and the Eastern Qere according to BHS).

²³ tn The words “of her wrath” are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied in the translation to help those readers who are not familiar with the figure of the “cup of the Lord’s wrath.”

²⁴ tn Heb “upon the grounds of such conditions the nations have gone mad.”