Jeremiah 25:6

25:6 Do not pay allegiance to ¹  other gods and worship and serve them. Do not make me angry by the things that you do. ²  Then I will not cause you any harm.’

Jeremiah 44:3

44:3 This happened because of the wickedness the people living there did. ³  They made me angry ⁴  by worshiping and offering sacrifice to ⁵  other gods whom neither they nor you nor your ancestors ⁶  previously knew. ⁷ 

¹ tn Heb “follow after.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for this idiom.

² tn Heb “make me angry with the work of your hands.” The term “work of your own hands” is often interpreted as a reference to idolatry as is clearly the case in Isa 2:8; 37:19. However, the parallelism in 25:14 and the context in 32:30 show that it is more general and refers to what they have done. That is likely the meaning here as well.

³ tn Heb “they.” The referent must be supplied from the preceding, i.e., Jerusalem and all the towns of Judah. “They” are those who have experienced the disaster and are distinct from those being addressed and their ancestors (44:3b).

⁴ tn Heb “thus making me angry.” However, this is a good place to break the sentence to create a shorter sentence that is more in keeping with contemporary English style.

⁵ tn Heb “by going to offer sacrifice in serving/worshiping.” The second לְ (lamed) + infinitive is epexegetical of the first (cf. IBHS 608-9 §36.2.3e).

⁶ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 9, 10, 17, 21).

⁷ sn Compare Jer 19:4 for the same thought and see also 7:9.