Deuteronomy 32:29

32:29 I wish that they were wise and could understand this,

and that they could comprehend what will happen to them.”

Isaiah 47:7

47:7 You said,

‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’ ¹ 

You did not think about these things; ² 

you did not consider how it would turn out. ³ 

Jeremiah 5:31

5:31 The prophets prophesy lies.

The priests exercise power by their own authority. ⁴ 

And my people love to have it this way.

But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes! ⁵ 

Jeremiah 5:1

Judah is Justly Deserving of Coming Judgment

5:1 The Lord said, ⁶ 

“Go up and down ⁷  through the streets of Jerusalem. ⁸ 

Look around and see for yourselves.

Search through its public squares.

See if any of you can find a single person

who deals honestly and tries to be truthful. ⁹ 

If you can, ¹⁰  then I will not punish this city. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 4:17

4:17 They will surround Jerusalem ¹² 

like men guarding a field ¹³ 

because they have rebelled against me,”

says the Lord.

[47:7]  ¹ tn Heb “Forever I [will be] permanent queen”; NIV “the eternal queen”; CEV “queen forever.”

[47:7]  ² tn Heb “you did not set these things upon your heart [or “mind”].”

[47:7]  ³ tn Heb “you did not remember its outcome”; NAB “you disregarded their outcome.”

[5:31]  ⁴ tn Heb “they shall rule at their hands.” Since the word “hand” can be used figuratively for authority or mean “side” and the pronoun “them” can refer to the priests themselves or the prophets, the following translations have also been suggested: “the priests rule under their [the prophets’] directions,” or “the priests rule in league with them [the prophets].” From the rest of the book it would appear that the prophets did not exercise authority over the priests nor did they exercise the same authority over the people that the priests did. Hence it probably mean “by their own hand/power/authority.”

[5:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “But what will you do at its end?” The rhetorical question implies a negative answer: “Nothing!”

[5:1]  ⁶ tn These words are not in the text, but since the words at the end are obviously those of the Lord, they are supplied in the translation here to mark the shift in speaker from 4:29-31 where Jeremiah is the obvious speaker.

[5:1]  ⁷ tn It is not clear who is being addressed here. The verbs are plural so they are not addressed to Jeremiah per se. Since the passage is talking about the people of Jerusalem, it is unlikely they are addressed here except perhaps rhetorically. Some have suggested that the heavenly court is being addressed here as in Job 1:6-8; 2:1-3. It is clear from Jer 23:18, 22; Amos 3:7 that the prophets had access to this heavenly counsel through visions (cf. 1 Kgs 22:19-23), so Jeremiah could have been privy to this speech through that means. Though these are the most likely addressee, it is too presumptuous to supply such an explicit addressee without clearer indication in the text. The translation will just have to run the risk of the probable erroneous assumption by most English readers that the addressee is Jeremiah.

[5:1]  ⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “who does justice and seeks faithfulness.”

[5:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “squares. If you can find…if there is one person…then I will…”

[5:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “forgive [or pardon] it.”

[4:17]  ¹² tn Heb “will surround her.” The antecedent is Jerusalem in the preceding verse. The referent is again made explicit in the translation to avoid any possible lack of clarity. The verb form here is a form of the verb that emphasizes the fact as being as good as done (i.e., it is a prophetic perfect).

[4:17]  ¹³ sn There is some irony involved in the choice of the simile since the men guarding a field were there to keep thieves from getting in and stealing the crops. Here the besiegers are guarding the city to keep people from getting out.