Jeremiah 25:31

25:31 The sounds of battle ¹  will resound to the ends of the earth.

For the Lord will bring charges against the nations. ² 

He will pass judgment on all humankind

and will hand the wicked over to be killed in war.’ ³ 

The Lord so affirms it! ⁴ 

Jeremiah 12:12

12:12 A destructive army ⁵  will come marching

over the hilltops in the desert.

For the Lord will use them as his destructive weapon ⁶ 

against ⁷  everyone from one end of the land to the other.

No one will be safe. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 25:33

25:33 Those who have been killed by the Lord at that time

will be scattered from one end of the earth to the other.

They will not be mourned over, gathered up, or buried. ⁹ 

Their dead bodies will lie scattered over the ground like manure.

[25:31]  ¹ tn For the use of this word see Amos 2:2; Hos 10:14; Ps 74:23. See also the usage in Isa 66:6 which is very similar to the metaphorical usage here.

[25:31]  ² tn Heb “the Lord has a lawsuit against the nations.” For usage of the term see Hos 4:1; Mic 6:2, and compare the usage of the related verb in Jer 2:9; 12:1.

[25:31]  ³ tn Heb “give the wicked over to the sword.”

[25:31]  ⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[12:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “destroyers.”

[12:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “It is the Lord’s consuming sword.”

[12:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “For a sword of the Lord will devour.” The sword is often symbolic for destructive forces of all kinds. Here and in Isa 34:6; Jer 47:6 it is symbolic of the enemy armies that the Lord uses to carry out destructive punishment against his enemies, hence the translation “his destructive weapon.” A similar figure is use in Isa 10:5 where the figure is more clearly identified; Assyria is the rod/club that the Lord will use to discipline unfaithful Israel.

[12:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “There is no peace to all flesh.”

[25:33]  ⁹ sn The intent here is to emphasize the large quantity of those who are killed – there will be too many to insure proper mourning rites and proper burial.