9:23 1 The Lord says,
“Wise people should not boast that they are wise.
Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful. 2
Rich people should not boast that they are rich. 3
28:1 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards is doomed, 4
the withering flower, its beautiful splendor, 5
situated 6 at the head of a rich valley,
the crown of those overcome with wine. 7
28:2 Look, the sovereign master 8 sends a strong, powerful one. 9
With the force of a hailstorm or a destructive windstorm, 10
with the might of a driving, torrential rainstorm, 11
he will knock that crown 12 to the ground with his hand. 13
28:3 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards
will be trampled underfoot.
28:4 The withering flower, its beautiful splendor,
situated at the head of a rich valley,
will be like an early fig before harvest –
as soon as someone notices it,
he grabs it and swallows it. 14
47:7 You said,
‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’ 15
You did not think about these things; 16
you did not consider how it would turn out. 17
47:8 So now, listen to this,
O one who lives so lavishly, 18
who lives securely,
who says to herself, 19
‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! 20
I will never have to live as a widow;
I will never lose my children.’ 21
1 sn It is not always clear why verses were placed in their present position in the editorial process of collecting Jeremiah’s sermons and the words the
2 tn Or “Strong people should not brag that they are strong.”
3 tn Heb “…in their wisdom…in their power…in their riches.”
4 tn Heb “Woe [to] the crown [or “wreath”] of the splendor [or “pride”] of the drunkards of Ephraim.” The “crown” is Samaria, the capital city of the northern kingdom (Ephraim). Priests and prophets are included among these drunkards in v. 7.
5 tn Heb “the beauty of his splendor.” In the translation the masculine pronoun (“his”) has been replaced by “its” because the referent (the “crown”) is the city of Samaria.
6 tn Heb “which [is].”
7 tn Heb “ones overcome with wine.” The words “the crown of” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The syntactical relationship of the final phrase to what precedes is uncertain. הֲלוּמֵי יָיִן (halume yayin, “ones overcome with wine”) seems to correspond to שִׁכֹּרֵי אֶפְרַיִם (shikkore ’efrayim, “drunkards of Ephraim”) in line 1. The translation assumes that the phrase “the splendid crown” is to be understood in the final line as well.
8 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 16, 22 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
9 tn Heb “Look, a strong and powerful [one] belongs to the Lord.”
10 tn Heb “like a rainstorm of hail, a wind of destruction.”
11 tn Heb “like a rainstorm of mighty, overflowing waters.”
12 tn The words “that crown” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The object of the verb is unexpressed in the Hebrew text.
13 tn Or “by [his] power.”
14 tn Heb “which the one seeing sees, while still it is in his hand he swallows it.”
15 tn Heb “Forever I [will be] permanent queen”; NIV “the eternal queen”; CEV “queen forever.”
16 tn Heb “you did not set these things upon your heart [or “mind”].”
17 tn Heb “you did not remember its outcome”; NAB “you disregarded their outcome.”
18 tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”
19 tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”
20 tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.
21 tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”
22 tn “As much as” is the translation of ὅσα (Josa).
23 tn On the term ἐστρηνίασεν (estrhniasen) BDAG 949 s.v. στρηνιάω states, “live in luxury, live sensually Rv 18:7. W. πορνεύειν vs. 9.”
24 tn Grk “said in her heart,” an idiom for saying something to oneself.