4:22 The Lord answered, 1
“This will happen 2 because my people are foolish.
They do not know me.
They are like children who have no sense. 3
They have no understanding.
They are skilled at doing evil.
They do not know how to do good.”
4:28 Because of this the land will mourn
and the sky above will grow black. 4
For I have made my purpose known 5
and I will not relent or turn back from carrying it out.” 6
5:4 I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. 7
They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. 8
They do not know what their God requires of them. 9
1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, 14 God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. 15
1:1 From Paul, 16 a slave 17 of Christ Jesus, 18 called to be an apostle, 19 set apart for the gospel of God. 20
1:1 From Paul, 21 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
1 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show clearly the shift in speaker. Jeremiah has been speaking; now the
2 tn Heb “For….” This gives the explanation for the destruction envisaged in 4:20 to which Jeremiah responds in 4:19, 21.
3 tn Heb “They are senseless children.”
4 sn The earth and the heavens are personified here and depicted in the act of mourning and wearing black clothes because of the destruction of the land of Israel.
5 tn Heb “has spoken and purposed.” This is an example of hendiadys where two verbs are joined by “and” but one is meant to serve as a modifier of the other.
6 tn Heb “will not turn back from it.”
7 tn Heb “Surely they are poor.” The translation is intended to make clear the explicit contrasts and qualifications drawn in this verse and the next.
8 tn Heb “the way of the
9 tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”
10 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Yet” to indicate the contrast present in the context.
11 tn Grk “If I say, ‘I do not know him.’”
12 tn Grk “I keep.”
13 tn Grk “his word.”
14 tn Grk “and just as they did not approve to have God in knowledge.”
15 tn Grk “the things that are improper.”
16 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
17 tn Traditionally, “servant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
18 tc Many important
19 tn Grk “a called apostle.”
20 tn The genitive in the phrase εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ (euangelion qeou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as (1) a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or (2) an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself. However, in view of God’s action in v. 2 concerning this gospel, a subjective genitive notion (“the gospel which God brings”) is slightly preferred.
21 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.