Jeremiah 15:13

15:13 I will give away your wealth and your treasures as plunder.

I will give it away free of charge for the sins you have committed throughout your land.

Jeremiah 17:3

17:3 and on the mountains and in the fields. ¹ 

I will give your wealth and all your treasures away as plunder.

I will give it away as the price ²  for the sins you have committed throughout your land.

Jeremiah 9:11

9:11 The Lord said, ³ 

“I will make Jerusalem ⁴  a heap of ruins.

Jackals will make their home there. ⁵ 

I will destroy the towns of Judah

so that no one will be able to live in them.”

Jeremiah 26:6

26:6 If you do not obey me, ⁶  then I will do to this temple what I did to Shiloh. ⁷  And I will make this city an example to be used in curses by people from all the nations on the earth.’”

Jeremiah 30:16

30:16 But ⁸  all who destroyed you will be destroyed.

All your enemies will go into exile.

Those who plundered you will be plundered.

I will cause those who pillaged you to be pillaged. ⁹ 

Jeremiah 32:40

32:40 I will make a lasting covenant ¹⁰  with them that I will never stop doing good to them. ¹¹  I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that ¹²  they will never again turn ¹³  away from me.

Jeremiah 34:21

34:21 I will also hand King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials over to their enemies who want to kill them. I will hand them over to the army of the king of Babylon, even though they have temporarily withdrawn from attacking you. ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 8:10

8:10 ¹⁵ So I will give their wives to other men

and their fields to new owners.

For from the least important to the most important of them,

all of them are greedy for dishonest gain.

Prophets and priests alike,

all practice deceit.

Jeremiah 14:13

14:13 Then I said, “Oh, Lord God, ¹⁶  look! ¹⁷  The prophets are telling them that you said, ¹⁸  ‘You will not experience war or suffer famine. ¹⁹  I will give you lasting peace and prosperity in this land.’” ²⁰ 

Jeremiah 15:9

15:9 The mother who had seven children ²¹  will grow faint.

All the breath will go out of her. ²² 

Her pride and joy will be taken from her in the prime of their life.

It will seem as if the sun had set while it was still day. ²³ 

She will suffer shame and humiliation. ²⁴ 

I will cause any of them who are still left alive

to be killed in war by the onslaughts of their enemies,” ²⁵ 

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 16:13

16:13 So I will throw you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have ever known. There you must worship other gods day and night, for I will show you no mercy.’”

Jeremiah 20:4-5

20:4 For the Lord says, ‘I will make both you and your friends terrified of what will happen to you. ²⁶  You will see all of them die by the swords of their enemies. ²⁷  I will hand all the people of Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will carry some of them away into exile in Babylon and he will kill others of them with the sword. 20:5 I will hand over all the wealth of this city to their enemies. I will hand over to them all the fruits of the labor of the people of this city and all their prized possessions, as well as all the treasures of the kings of Judah. Their enemies will seize it all as plunder ²⁸  and carry it off to Babylon.

Jeremiah 24:8

24:8 “I, the Lord, also solemnly assert: ‘King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the people who remain in Jerusalem ²⁹  or who have gone to live in Egypt are like those bad figs. I consider them to be just like those bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. ³⁰ 

Jeremiah 34:22

34:22 For I, the Lord, affirm that ³¹  I will soon give the order and bring them back to this city. They will fight against it and capture it and burn it down. I will also make the towns of Judah desolate so that there will be no one living in them.”’”

Jeremiah 21:7

21:7 Then ³²  I, the Lord, promise that ³³  I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and any of the people who survive the war, starvation, and disease. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their enemies who want to kill them. He will slaughter them with the sword. He will not show them any mercy, compassion, or pity.’

[17:3]  ¹ tc This reading follows some of the ancient versions. The MT reads, “hills. My mountain in the open field [alluding to Jerusalem] and your wealth…I will give.” The vocalization of the noun plus pronoun and the unusual form of the expression to allude to Jerusalem calls into question the originality of the MT. The MT reads הֲרָרִי (harari) which combines the suffix for a singular noun with a pointing of the noun in the plural, a form which would be without parallel (compare the forms in Ps 30:8 for the singular noun with suffix and Deut 8:9 for the plural noun with suffix). Likewise, Jerusalem was not “in the open field.” For a similar expression compare Jer 13:27.

[17:3]  ² tc Or “I will give away your wealth, all your treasures, and your places of worship…” The translation follows the emendation suggested in the footnote in BHS, reading בִּמְחִיר (bimkhir) in place of בָּמֹתֶיךָ (bamotekha). The forms are graphically very close and one could explain the origin of either from the other. The parallel in 15:13-14 reads לֹא בִּמְחִיר (lo’ bimkhir). The text here may be a deliberate play on that one. The emended text makes decidedly better sense contextually than the MT unless some sardonic reference to their idolatry is intended.

[9:11]  ¹ tn The words “the Lord said” are not in the text, but it is obvious from the content that he is the speaker. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:11]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[9:11]  ³ tn Heb “a heap of ruins, a haunt for jackals.”

[26:6]  ¹ tn 26:4-6 are all one long sentence containing a long condition with subordinate clauses (vv. 4-5) and a compound consequence in v. 6: Heb “If you will not obey me by walking in my law…by paying attention to the words of the prophets which…and you did not pay heed, then I will make…and I will make…” The sentence has been broken down in conformity to contemporary English style but an attempt has been made to reflect all the subordinations in the English translation.

[26:6]  ² sn See the study note on Jer 7:13.

[30:16]  ¹ tn For the translation of this particle, which is normally translated “therefore” and often introduces an announcement of judgment, compare the usage at Jer 16:14 and the translator’s note there. Here as there it introduces a contrast, a rather unexpected announcement of salvation. For a similar use see also Hos 2:14 (2:16 HT). Recognition of this usage makes the proposed emendation of BHS of לָכֵן כָּל (lakhen kol) to וְכָל (vÿkhol) unnecessary.

[30:16]  ² sn With the exception of the second line there is a definite attempt at wordplay in each line to underline the principle of lex talionis on a national and political level. This principle has already been appealed to in the case of the end of Babylonian sovereignty in 25:14; 27:7.

[32:40]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[34:21]  ¹ tn Heb “And Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives and into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon which has gone up from against them.” The last two “and into the hand” phrases are each giving further explication of “their enemies” (the conjunction is explicative [cf. BDB 252 s.v. וְ 1.b]). The sentence has been broken down into shorter English sentences in conformity with contemporary English style.

[8:10]  ¹ sn See Jer 6:12-15 for parallels to 8:10-12. The words of Jeremiah to the people may have been repeated on more than one occasion or have been found appropriate to more than one of his collection of messages in written and edited form. See Jer 36:4 and Jer 36:28 for reference to at least two of these collections.

[14:13]  ¹ tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” The translation follows the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the Hebrew word for God for the proper name Yahweh.

[14:13]  ² tn Heb “Behold.” See the translator’s note on usage of this particle in 1:6.

[14:13]  ³ tn The words “that you said” are not in the text but are implicit from the first person in the affirmation that follows. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[14:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “You will not see sword and you will not have starvation [or hunger].”

[14:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will give you unfailing peace in this place.” The translation opts for “peace and prosperity” here for the word שָׁלוֹם (shalom) because in the context it refers both to peace from war and security from famine and plague. The word translated “lasting” (אֱמֶת, ’emet) is a difficult to render here because it has broad uses: “truth, reliability, stability, steadfastness,” etc. “Guaranteed” or “lasting” seem to fit the context the best.

[15:9]  ¹ tn Heb “who gave birth to seven.”

[15:9]  ² tn The meaning of this line is debated. Some understand this line to mean “she has breathed out her life” (cf., e.g., BDB 656 s.v. נָפַח and 656 s.v. ֶנפֶשׁ 1.c). However, as several commentaries have noted (e.g., W. McKane, Jeremiah [ICC], 1:341; J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 109) it makes little sense to talk about her suffering shame and embarrassment if she has breathed her last. Both the Greek and Latin versions understand “soul” not as the object but as the subject and the idea being one of fainting under despair. This idea seems likely in light of the parallelism. Bright suggests the phrase means either “she gasped out her breath” or “her throat gasped.” The former is more likely. One might also render “she fainted dead away,” but that idiom might not be familiar to all readers.

[15:9]  ³ tn Heb “Her sun went down while it was still day.”

[15:9]  ⁴ sn She has lost her position of honor and the source of her pride. For the concepts here see 1 Sam 2:5.

[15:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will deliver those of them that survive to the sword before their enemies.” The referent of “them” is ambiguous. Does it refer to the children of the widow (nearer context) or the people themselves (more remote context, v. 7)? Perhaps it was meant to include both. Verse seven spoke of the destruction of the people and the killing off of the children.

[20:4]  ¹ tn Heb “I will make you an object of terror to both you and your friends.”

[20:4]  ² tn Heb “And they will fall by the sword of their enemies and [with] your eyes seeing [it].”

[20:5]  ¹ tn Heb “Take them [the goods, etc.] as plunder and seize them.”

[24:8]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[24:8]  ² tn Heb “Like the bad figs which cannot be eaten from badness [= because they are so bad] surely [emphatic כִּי, ki] so I regard Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his officials and the remnant of Jerusalem which remains in this land and those who are living in Egypt.” The sentence has been restructured in the translation to conform more to contemporary English style. For the use of נָתַן (natan) meaning “regard” or “treat like” see BDB 681 s.v. נָתַן 3.c and compare the usage in Ezek 28:6;Gen 42:30.

[34:22]  ¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[21:7]  ¹ tn Heb “And afterward.”

[21:7]  ² tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”