Jeremiah 5:12

5:12 “These people have denied what the Lord says. ¹ 

They have said, ‘That is not so! ² 

No harm will come to us.

We will not experience war and famine. ³ 

Jeremiah 6:14

6:14 They offer only superficial help

for the harm my people have suffered. ⁴ 

They say, ‘Everything will be all right!’

But everything is not all right! ⁵ 

Jeremiah 8:11

8:11 They offer only superficial help

for the hurt my dear people ⁶  have suffered. ⁷ 

They say, “Everything will be all right!”

But everything is not all right! ⁸ 

Jeremiah 23:17

23:17 They continually say ⁹  to those who reject what the Lord has said, ¹⁰ 

‘Things will go well for you!’ ¹¹ 

They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts,

‘Nothing bad will happen to you!’

Isaiah 30:10

30:10 They ¹²  say to the visionaries, “See no more visions!”

and to the seers, “Don’t relate messages to us about what is right! ¹³ 

Tell us nice things,

relate deceptive messages. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 37:35

37:35 I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”’” ¹⁵ 

¹ tn Heb “have denied the Lord.” The words “What…says” are implicit in what follows.

² tn Or “he will do nothing”; Heb “Not he [or it]!”

³ tn Heb “we will not see the sword and famine.”

⁴ tn Heb “They heal [= bandage] the wound of my people lightly”; TEV “They act as if my people’s wounds were only scratches.”

⁵ tn Heb “They say, ‘Peace! Peace!’ and there is no peace!”

⁶ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

⁷ tn Heb “They heal the wound of my people lightly.”

⁸ tn Heb “They say, ‘Peace! Peace!’ and there is no peace!”

⁹ tn The translation reflects an emphatic construction where the infinitive absolute follows a participle (cf. GKC 343 §113.r).

¹⁰ tc The translation follows the Greek version. The Hebrew text reads, “who reject me, ‘The Lord has spoken, “Things…”’” The Greek version is to be preferred here because of (1) the parallelism of the lines “reject what the Lord has said” // “follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts;” (2) the preceding context which speaks of “visions of their own imaginations not of what the Lord has given them;” (3) the following context which denies that they have ever had access to the Lord’s secrets; (4) the general contexts earlier regarding false prophecy where rejection of the Lord’s word is in view (6:14 [see there v. 10]; 8:11 [see there v. 9]); (5) the meter of the poetic lines (the Hebrew meter is 3/5/4/3; the meter presupposed by the translation is 5/3/4/3 with the 3’s being their words). The difference is one of vocalization of the same consonants. The vocalization of the MT is יְהוָה מְנַאֲצַי דִּבֶּר [mÿna’atsay dibber yÿhvah]; the Hebrew Vorlage behind the Greek would be vocalized as מְנַאֲצֵי דְּבַר יְהוָה (mÿna’atsey dÿvar yÿhvah).

¹¹ tn Heb “You will have peace.” But see the note on 14:13. See also 6:14 and 8:11.

¹² tn Heb “who” (so NASB, NRSV). A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹³ tn Heb “Do not see for us right things.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “Tell us smooth things, see deceptive things.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”