Jeremiah 2:26-27

2:26 Just as a thief has to suffer dishonor when he is caught,

so the people of Israel ¹  will suffer dishonor for what they have done. ² 

So will their kings and officials,

their priests and their prophets.

2:27 They say to a wooden idol, ³  ‘You are my father.’

They say to a stone image, ‘You gave birth to me.’ ⁴ 

Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me. ⁵ 

Yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’

Jeremiah 20:11

20:11 But the Lord is with me to help me like an awe-inspiring warrior. ⁶ 

Therefore those who persecute me will fail and will not prevail over me.

They will be thoroughly disgraced because they did not succeed.

Their disgrace will never be forgotten.

Psalms 40:14

40:14 May those who are trying to snatch away my life

be totally embarrassed and ashamed! ⁷ 

May those who want to harm me

be turned back and ashamed! ⁸ 

Psalms 109:29

109:29 My accusers will be covered ⁹  with shame,

and draped in humiliation as if it were a robe.

Isaiah 45:16-17

45:16 They will all be ashamed and embarrassed;

those who fashion idols will all be humiliated. ¹⁰ 

45:17 Israel will be delivered once and for all by the Lord; ¹¹ 

you will never again be ashamed or humiliated. ¹² 

[2:26]  ¹ tn Heb “house of Israel.”

[2:26]  ² tn The words “for what they have done” are implicit in the comparison and are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:27]  ³ tn Heb “wood…stone…”

[2:27]  ⁴ sn The reference to wood and stone is, of course, a pejorative reference to idols made by human hands. See the next verse where reference is made to “the gods you have made.”

[2:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “they have turned [their] backs to me, not [their] faces.”

[20:11]  ⁶ sn This line has some interesting ties with Jer 15:20-21 where Jeremiah is assured by God that he is indeed with him as he promised him when he called him (1:8, 19) and will deliver him from the clutches of wicked and violent people. The word translated here “awe-inspiring” is the same as the word “violent people” there. Jeremiah is confident that his “awe-inspiring” warrior will overcome “violent people.” The statement of confidence here is, by the way, a common element in the psalms of petition in the Psalter. The common elements of that type of psalm are all here: invocation (v. 7), lament (vv. 7-10), confession of trust/confidence in being heard (v. 11), petition (v. 12), thanksgiving or praise (v. 13). For some examples of this type of psalm see Pss 3, 7, 26.

[40:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “may they be embarrassed and ashamed together, the ones seeking my life to snatch it away.”

[40:14]  ⁸ tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse (“may those…be…embarrassed and ashamed…may those…be turned back and ashamed”) are understood as jussives. The psalmist is calling judgment down on his enemies.

[109:29]  ⁹ tn Heb “clothed.” Another option is to translate the prefixed verbal forms in this line and the next as jussives (“may my accusers be covered with shame”).

[45:16]  ¹⁰ tn “together they will walk in humiliation, the makers of images.”

[45:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Israel will be delivered by the Lord [with] a permanent deliverance.”

[45:17]  ¹² tn Heb “you will not be ashamed and you will not be humiliated for ages of future time.”