Jeremiah 2:28

2:28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves?

Let them save you when you are in trouble.

The sad fact is that ¹  you have as many gods

as you have towns, Judah.

Jeremiah 3:8

3:8 She also saw ²  that I gave wayward Israel her divorce papers and sent her away because of her adulterous worship of other gods. ³  Even after her unfaithful sister Judah had seen this, ⁴  she still was not afraid, and she too went and gave herself like a prostitute to other gods. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 4:22

4:22 The Lord answered, ⁶ 

“This will happen ⁷  because my people are foolish.

They do not know me.

They are like children who have no sense. ⁸ 

They have no understanding.

They are skilled at doing evil.

They do not know how to do good.”

Jeremiah 7:23

7:23 I also explicitly commanded them: ⁹  “Obey me. If you do, I ¹⁰  will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you ¹¹  and things will go well with you.”

Jeremiah 8:6

8:6 I have listened to them very carefully, ¹² 

but they do not speak honestly.

None of them regrets the evil he has done.

None of them says, “I have done wrong!” ¹³ 

All of them persist in their own wayward course ¹⁴ 

like a horse charging recklessly into battle.

Jeremiah 9:24

9:24 If people want to boast, they should boast about this:

They should boast that they understand and know me.

They should boast that they know and understand

that I, the Lord, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth

and that I desire people to do these things,” ¹⁵ 

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 11:20

11:20 So I said to the Lord, ¹⁶ 

“O Lord who rules over all, ¹⁷  you are a just judge!

You examine people’s hearts and minds. ¹⁸ 

I want to see you pay them back for what they have done

because I trust you to vindicate my cause.” ¹⁹ 

Jeremiah 18:23

18:23 But you, Lord, know

all their plots to kill me.

Do not pardon their crimes!

Do not ignore their sins as though you had erased them! ²⁰ 

Let them be brought down in defeat before you!

Deal with them while you are still angry! ²¹ 

Jeremiah 32:4

32:4 King Zedekiah of Judah will not escape from the Babylonians. ²²  He will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon. He must answer personally to the king of Babylon and confront him face to face. ²³ 

Jeremiah 32:30

32:30 This will happen because the people of Israel and Judah have repeatedly done what displeases me ²⁴  from their earliest history until now ²⁵  and because they ²⁶  have repeatedly made me angry by the things they have done. ²⁷  I, the Lord, affirm it! ²⁸ 

Jeremiah 34:16

34:16 But then you turned right around ²⁹  and showed that you did not honor me. ³⁰  Each of you took back your male and female slaves whom you had freed as they desired, and you forced them to be your slaves again. ³¹ 

Jeremiah 39:18

39:18 I will certainly save you. You will not fall victim to violence. ³²  You will escape with your life ³³  because you trust in me. I, the Lord, affirm it!”’” ³⁴ 

Jeremiah 49:12

49:12 For the Lord says, “If even those who did not deserve to drink from the cup of my wrath must drink from it, do you think you will go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but must certainly drink from the cup of my wrath. ³⁵ 

Jeremiah 50:20

50:20 When that time comes,

no guilt will be found in Israel.

No sin will be found in Judah. ³⁶ 

For I will forgive those of them I have allowed to survive. ³⁷ 

I, the Lord, affirm it!’” ³⁸ 

[2:28]  ¹ tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki, “for, indeed”) contextually.

[3:8]  ² tc Heb “she [‘her sister, unfaithful Judah’ from the preceding verse] saw” with one Hebrew ms, some Greek mss, and the Syriac version. The MT reads “I saw” which may be a case of attraction to the verb at the beginning of the previous verse.

[3:8]  ³ tn Heb “because she committed adultery.” The translation is intended to spell out the significance of the metaphor.

[3:8]  ⁴ tn The words “Even after her unfaithful sister, Judah, had seen this” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit in the connection and are supplied for clarification.

[3:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “she played the prostitute there.” This is a metaphor for Israel’s worship; she gave herself to the worship of other gods like a prostitute gives herself to her lovers. There seems no clear way to completely spell out the metaphor in the translation.

[4:22]  ³ tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show clearly the shift in speaker. Jeremiah has been speaking; now the Lord answers, giving the reason for the devastation Jeremiah foresees.

[4:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “For….” This gives the explanation for the destruction envisaged in 4:20 to which Jeremiah responds in 4:19, 21.

[4:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “They are senseless children.”

[7:23]  ⁴ tn Verses 22-23a read in Hebrew, “I did not speak with your ancestors and I did not command them when I brought them out of Egypt about words/matters concerning burnt offering and sacrifice, but I commanded them this word:” Some modern commentators have explained this passage as an evidence for the lateness of the Pentateuchal instruction regarding sacrifice or a denial that sacrifice was practiced during the period of the wilderness wandering. However, it is better explained as an example of what R. de Vaux calls a dialectical negative, i.e., “not so much this as that” or “not this without that” (Ancient Israel, 454-56). For other examples of this same argument see Isa 1:10-17; Hos 6:4-6; Amos 5:21-25.

[7:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “Obey me and I will be.” The translation is equivalent syntactically but brings out the emphasis in the command.

[7:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “Walk in all the way that I command you.”

[8:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “I have paid attention and I have listened.” This is another case of two concepts being joined by “and” where one expresses the main idea and the other acts as an adverbial or adjectival modifier (a figure called hendiadys).

[8:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “What have I done?” The addition of the word “wrong” is implicit in the context and is supplied in the translation for clarity. The rhetorical question does not function as a denial of wrongdoing, but rather as contrite shock at one’s own wrongdoing. It is translated as a declaration for the sake of clarity.

[8:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “each one of them turns aside into their own running course.”

[9:24]  ⁶ tn Or “fairness and justice, because these things give me pleasure.” Verse 24 reads in Hebrew, “But let the one who brags brag in this: understanding and knowing me that I, the Lord, do faithfulness, justice, and righteousness in the earth for/that I delight in these.” It is uncertain whether the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) before the clause “I delight in these things” is parallel to the כִּי introducing the clause “that I, the Lord, act…” or causal giving the grounds for the Lord acting the way he does. In the light of the contrasts in the passage and the emphasis that Jeremiah has placed on obedience to the covenant and ethical conduct in conjunction with real allegiance to the Lord not mere lip service, it is probable that the clauses are parallel. For the use of כִּי to introduce clauses of further definition after a direct object as here see GKC 365 §117.h and see BDB 393 s.v. יָדַע Qal.1.a. For parallels to the idea of Yahweh requiring these characteristics in people see Hos 6:6, Mic 6:8.

[11:20]  ⁷ tn The words “So I said to the Lord” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift in address.

[11:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[11:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “Lord of armies, just judge, tester of kidneys and heart.” The sentence has been broken up to avoid a long and complex English sentence. The translation is more in keeping with contemporary English style. In Hebrew thought the “kidneys” were thought of as the seat of the emotions and passions and the “heart” was viewed as the seat of intellect, conscience, and will. The “heart” and the “kidneys” are often used figuratively for the thoughts, emotions, motives, and drives that are thought to be seated in them.

[11:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Let me see your retribution [i.e., see you exact retribution] from them because I reveal my cause [i.e., plea for justice] to you.”

[18:23]  ⁸ sn Heb “Do not blot out their sins from before you.” For this anthropomorphic figure which looks at God’s actions as though connected with record books, i.e., a book of wrongdoings to be punished, and a book of life for those who are to live, see e.g., Exod 32:32, 33, Ps 51:1 (51:3 HT); 69:28 (69:29 HT).

[18:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “in the time of your anger.”

[32:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for further explanation.

[32:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his [Zedekiah’s] mouth will speak with his [Nebuchadnezzar’s] mouth and his eyes will see his eyes.” The verbs here are an obligatory imperfect and its vav consecutive perfect equivalent. (See IBHS 508-9 §31.4g for discussion and examples of the former and IBHS 528 §32.2.1d, n. 16, for the latter.)

[32:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.” For this idiom see BDB 744 s.v. עַיִן 3.c and compare usage in 18:10.

[32:30]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from their youth.”

[32:30]  ¹² tn Heb “the people of Israel.” However, since “people of Israel” has been used in the preceding line for the northern kingdom as opposed to the kingdom of Judah, it might lead to confusion to translate literally. Moreover, the pronoun “they” accomplishes the same purpose.

[32:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “by the work of their hands.” See the translator’s note on 25:6 and the parallelism in 25:14 for this rendering rather than referring it to the making of idols as in 1:16; 10:3.

[32:30]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[34:16]  ¹¹ sn The verb at the beginning of v. 15 and v. 16 are the same in the Hebrew. They had two changes of heart (Heb “you turned”), one that was pleasing to him (Heb “right in his eyes”) and one that showed they did not honor him (Heb “profaned [or belittled] his name”).

[34:16]  ¹² sn Heb “you profaned my name.” His name had been invoked in the oath confirming the covenant. Breaking the covenant involved taking his name in vain (cf. Exod 20:7; Deut 5:11; Jer 5:2). Hence the one who bore the name was not treated with the special honor and reverence due him (see the study note on 23:27 for the significance of “name” in the OT).

[34:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “and you brought them into subjection to be to you for male and female slaves.” See the translator’s note on v. 11 for the same redundant repetition which is not carried over into the contemporary English sentence.

[39:18]  ¹² sn Heb “you will not fall by the sword.” In the context this would include death in battle and execution as a prisoner of war.

[39:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “your life will be to you for spoil.” For the meaning of this idiom see the study note on 21:9 and compare the usage in 21:9; 38:2; 45:4.

[39:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[49:12]  ¹³ tn The words “of my wrath” after “cup” in the first line and “from the cup of my wrath” in the last line are not in the text but are implicit in the metaphor. They have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[50:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “In those days and at that time, oracle of the Lord, the iniquity [or guilt] of Israel will be sought but there will be none and the sins of Judah but they will not be found.” The passive construction “will be sought” raises the question of who is doing the seeking which is not really the main point. The translation has avoided this question by simply referring to the result which is the main point.

[50:20]  ¹⁵ sn Compare Jer 31:34 and 33:8.

[50:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.” In this case it is necessary to place this in the first person because this is already in a quote whose speaker is identified as the Lord (v. 18).