Jeremiah 14:10

14:10 Then the Lord spoke about these people. ¹ 

“They truly ²  love to go astray.

They cannot keep from running away from me. ³ 

So I am not pleased with them.

I will now call to mind ⁴  the wrongs they have done ⁵ 

and punish them for their sins.”

Jeremiah 26:13

26:13 But correct the way you have been living and do what is right. ⁶  Obey the Lord your God. If you do, the Lord will forgo destroying you as he threatened he would. ⁷ 

Jeremiah 31:21

31:21 I will say, ⁸  ‘My dear children of Israel, ⁹  keep in mind

the road you took when you were carried off. ¹⁰ 

Mark off in your minds the landmarks.

Make a mental note of telltale signs marking the way back.

Return, my dear children of Israel.

Return to these cities of yours.

[14:10]  ¹ tn Heb “Thus said the Lord concerning this people.”

[14:10]  ² tn It is difficult to be certain how the particle כֵּן (ken, usually used for “thus, so”) is to be rendered here. BDB 485 s.v. כֵּן 1.b says that the force sometimes has to be elicited from the general context and points back to the line of v. 9. IHBS 666 §39.3.4e states that when there is no specific comparative clause preceding a general comparison is intended. They point to Judg 5:31 as a parallel. Ps 127:2 may also be an example if כִּי (ki) is not to be read (cf. BHS fn). “Truly” seemed the best way to render this idea in contemporary English.

[14:10]  ³ tn Heb “They do not restrain their feet.” The idea of “away from me” is implicit in the context and is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[14:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “remember.”

[14:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “their iniquities.”

[26:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “Make good your ways and your actions.” For the same expression see 7:3, 5; 18:11.

[26:13]  ⁷ tn For the idiom and translation of terms involved here see 18:8 and the translator’s note there.

[31:21]  ¹¹ tn The words “I will say” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to mark the transition from the address about Israel in a response to Rachel’s weeping (vv. 15-20) to a direct address to Israel which is essentially the answer to Israel’s prayer of penitence (cf. G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 121.)

[31:21]  ¹² tn Heb “Virgin Israel.” For the significance see the study note on 31:3.

[31:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “Set your mind to the highway, the way which you went.” The phrase “the way you went” has been translated “the road you took when you were carried off” to help the reader see the reference to the exile implicit in the context. The verb “which you went” is another example of the old second feminine singular which the Masoretes typically revocalize (Kethib הָלָכְתִּי [halakhti]; Qere הָלָכְתְּ [halakht]). The vocative has been supplied in the translation at the beginning to help make the transition from third person reference to Ephraim/Israel in the preceding to second person in the following and to identify the referent of the imperatives. Likewise, this line has been moved to the front to show that the reference to setting up sign posts and landmarks is not literal but figurative, referring to making a mental note of the way they took when carried off so that they can easily find their way back. Lines three and four in the Hebrew text read, “Set up sign posts for yourself; set up guideposts/landmarks for yourself.” The word translated “telltale signs marking the way” occurs only here. Though its etymology and precise meaning are unknown, all the lexicons agree in translating it as “sign post” or something similar based on the parallelism.