Jeremiah 2:13

2:13 “Do so because my people have committed a double wrong:

they have rejected me,

the fountain of life-giving water, ¹ 

and they have dug cisterns for themselves,

cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water.”

Jeremiah 6:11

6:11 I am as full of anger as you are, Lord, ² 

I am tired of trying to hold it in.”

The Lord answered, ³ 

“Vent it, then, ⁴  on the children who play in the street

and on the young men who are gathered together.

Husbands and wives are to be included, ⁵ 

as well as the old and those who are advanced in years.

[2:13]  ¹ tn It is difficult to decide whether to translate “fresh, running water” which the Hebrew term for “living water” often refers to (e.g., Gen 26:19; Lev 14:5), or “life-giving water” which the idiom “fountain of life” as source of life and vitality often refers to (e.g., Ps 36:9; Prov 13:14; 14:27). The contrast with cisterns, which collected and held rain water, suggests “fresh, running water,” but the reality underlying the metaphor contrasts the Lord, the source of life, health, and vitality, with useless idols that cannot do anything.

[6:11]  ² tn Heb “I am full of the wrath of the Lord.”

[6:11]  ³ tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the words that follow. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “Pour it out.”

[6:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “are to be captured.”