Jeremiah 1:16

1:16 In this way ¹  I will pass sentence ²  on the people of Jerusalem and Judah ³  because of all their wickedness. For they rejected me and offered sacrifices to other gods, worshiping what they made with their own hands.” ⁴ 

Jeremiah 5:7

5:7 The Lord asked, ⁵ 

“How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem? ⁶ 

Your people ⁷  have rejected me

and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all. ⁸ 

Even though I supplied all their needs, ⁹  they were like an unfaithful wife to me. ¹⁰ 

They went flocking ¹¹  to the houses of prostitutes. ¹² 

Jeremiah 7:22

7:22 Consider this: ¹³  When I spoke to your ancestors after I brought them out of Egypt, I did not merely give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Jeremiah 9:16

9:16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors ¹⁴  have known anything about. I will send people chasing after them with swords ¹⁵  until I have destroyed them.’” ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 11:7

11:7 For I solemnly warned your ancestors to obey me. ¹⁷  I warned them again and again, ¹⁸  ever since I delivered them out of Egypt until this very day.

Jeremiah 16:7

16:7 No one will take any food to those who mourn for the dead to comfort them. No one will give them any wine to drink to console them for the loss of their father or mother.

Jeremiah 31:8

31:8 Then I will reply, ¹⁹  ‘I will bring them back from the land of the north.

I will gather them in from the distant parts of the earth.

Blind and lame people will come with them,

so will pregnant women and women about to give birth.

A vast throng of people will come back here.

Jeremiah 32:40

32:40 I will make a lasting covenant ²⁰  with them that I will never stop doing good to them. ²¹  I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that ²²  they will never again turn ²³  away from me.

Jeremiah 34:13

34:13 “The Lord God of Israel has a message for you. ²⁴  ‘I made a covenant with your ancestors ²⁵  when I brought them out of Egypt where they had been slaves. ²⁶  It stipulated, ²⁷ 

Jeremiah 34:20

34:20 I will hand them over to their enemies who want to kill them. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals. ²⁸ 

Jeremiah 52:3

52:3 What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the Lord’s anger when he drove them out of his sight. ²⁹  Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

[1:16]  ¹ tn The Hebrew particle (the vav [ו] consecutive), which is often rendered in some English versions as “and” and in others is simply left untranslated, is rendered here epexegetically, reflecting a summary statement.

[1:16]  ² sn The Hebrew idiom (literally “I will speak my judgments against”) is found three other times in Jeremiah (4:12; 39:5; 52:9), where it is followed by the carrying out of the sentence. Here the carrying out of the sentence precedes in v. 15.

[1:16]  ³ tn Heb “on them.” The antecedent goes back to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah (i.e., the people in them) in v. 15.

[1:16]  ⁴ tn I.e., idols.

[5:7]  ⁵ tn These words are not in the text, but are supplied in the translation to make clear who is speaking.

[5:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “How can I forgive [or pardon] you.” The pronoun “you” is second feminine singular, referring to the city. See v. 1.

[5:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “your children.”

[5:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “and they have sworn [oaths] by not-gods.”

[5:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “I satisfied them to the full.”

[5:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they committed adultery.” It is difficult to decide whether literal adultery with other women or spiritual adultery with other gods is meant. The word for adultery is used for both in the book of Jeremiah. For examples of its use for spiritual adultery see 3:8, 9; 9:2. For examples of its use for literal adultery see 7:9; 23:14. The context here could argue for either. The swearing by other gods and the implicit contradiction in their actions in contrast to the expected gratitude for supplying their needs argues for spiritual adultery. However, the reference to prostitution in the next line and the reference to chasing after their neighbor’s wives argues for literal adultery. The translation opts for spiritual adultery because of the contrast implicit in the concessive clause.

[5:7]  ¹¹ tn There is a great deal of debate about the meaning of this word. Most of the modern English versions follow the lead of lexicographers who relate this word to a noun meaning “troop” and understand it to mean “they trooped together” (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.2 and compare the usage in Mic 5:1 [4:14 HT]). A few of the modern English versions and commentaries follow the reading of the Greek and read a word meaning “they lodged” (reading ִיתְגּוֹרְרוּ [yitggorÿru] from I גּוּר [gur; cf. HALOT 177 s.v. Hithpo. and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 17:20] instead of יִתְגֹּדָדוּ [yitggodadu]). W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:180) sees a reference here to the cultic practice of cutting oneself in supplication to pagan gods (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.1 and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 18:28). The houses of prostitutes would then be a reference to ritual prostitutes at the pagan shrines. The translation follows BDB and the majority of modern English versions.

[5:7]  ¹² tn Heb “to a house of a prostitute.”

[7:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “For” but this introduces a long explanation about the relative importance of sacrifice and obedience.

[9:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “fathers.”

[9:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I will send the sword after them.” The sword here is probably not completely literal but refers to death by violent means, including death by the sword.

[9:16]  ¹⁵ sn He will destroy them but not completely. See Jer 5:18; 30:11; 46:28.

[11:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “warned them…saying, ‘Obey me.’” However, it allows the long sentence to be broken up easier if the indirect quote is used.

[11:7]  ¹⁸ tn For the explanation for this rendering see the note on 7:13.

[31:8]  ²¹ tn The words “And I will reply” are not in the text but the words vv. 8-9 appear to be the answer to the petition at the end of v. 7. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[32:40]  ²⁵ tn Heb “an everlasting covenant.” For the rationale for the rendering “agreement” and the nature of the biblical covenants see the study note on 11:2.

[32:40]  ²⁶ tn Or “stop being gracious to them” or “stop blessing them with good”; Heb “turn back from them to do good to them.”

[32:40]  ²⁷ tn Or “I will make them want to fear and respect me so much that”; Heb “I will put the fear of me in their hearts.” However, as has been noted several times, “heart” in Hebrew is more the center of the volition (and intellect) than the center of emotions as it is in English. Both translations are intended to reflect the difference in psychology.

[32:40]  ²⁸ tn The words “never again” are not in the text but are implicit from the context and are supplied not only by this translation but by a number of others.

[34:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘…’” The style adopted here has been used to avoid a longer, more complex English sentence.

[34:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 14, 15).

[34:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “out of the house of bondage.”

[34:13]  ³² tn Heb “made a covenant, saying.” This was only one of several stipulations of the covenant. The form used here has been chosen as an indirect way of relating the specific stipulation that is being focused upon to the general covenant that is referred to in v. 13.

[34:20]  ³³ sn See this same phrase in Jer 7:33; 16:4; 19:7.

[52:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Surely (or “for”) because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until he drove them out from upon his face.” For the phrase “drive out of his sight,” see 7:15.