5:14 Because of that, 1 the Lord, the God who rules over all, 2 said to me, 3
“Because these people have spoken 4 like this, 5
I will make the words that I put in your mouth like fire.
And I will make this people like wood
which the fiery judgments you speak will burn up.” 6
5:15 The Lord says, 7 “Listen, 8 nation of Israel! 9
I am about to bring a nation from far away to attack you.
It will be a nation that was founded long ago
and has lasted for a long time.
It will be a nation whose language you will not know.
Its people will speak words that you will not be able to understand.
5:16 All of its soldiers are strong and mighty. 10
Their arrows will send you to your grave. 11
5:17 They will eat up your crops and your food.
They will kill off 12 your sons and your daughters.
They will eat up your sheep and your cattle.
They will destroy your vines and your fig trees. 13
Their weapons will batter down 14
the fortified cities you trust in.
1 tn Heb “Therefore.”
2 tn Heb “The
3 tn The words, “to me” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection. They are supplied in the translation for clarification.
4 tn Heb “you have spoken.” The text here דַּבֶּרְכֶם (dabberkhem, “you have spoken”) is either a case of a scribal error for דַּבֶּרָם (dabberam, “they have spoken”) or an example of the rapid shift in addressee which is common in Jeremiah.
5 tn Heb “this word.”
6 tn Heb “like wood and it [i.e., the fire I put in your mouth] will consume them.”
7 tn Heb “oracle of the
8 tn Heb “Behold!”
9 tn Heb “house of Israel.”
10 tn Heb “All of them are mighty warriors.”
11 tn Heb “his quiver [is] an open grave.” The order of the lines has been reversed to make the transition from “nation” to “their arrows” easier.
12 tn Heb “eat up.”
13 tn Or “eat up your grapes and figs”; Heb “eat up your vines and your fig trees.”
14 tn Heb “They will beat down with the sword.” The term “sword” is a figure of speech (synecdoche) for military weapons in general. Siege ramps, not swords, beat down city walls; swords kill people, not city walls.