Jeremiah 3:13

3:13 However, you must confess that you have done wrong, ¹ 

and that you have rebelled against the Lord your God.

You must confess ²  that you have given yourself to ³  foreign gods under every green tree,

and have not obeyed my commands,’ says the Lord.

Jeremiah 5:5

5:5 I will go to the leaders ⁴ 

and speak with them.

Surely they know what the Lord demands. ⁵ 

Surely they know what their God requires of them.” ⁶ 

Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authority

and refuse to submit to him. ⁷ 

Jeremiah 7:23

7:23 I also explicitly commanded them: ⁸  “Obey me. If you do, I ⁹  will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you ¹⁰  and things will go well with you.”

Jeremiah 12:16

12:16 But they must make sure you learn to follow the religious practices of my people. ¹¹  Once they taught my people to swear their oaths using the name of the god Baal. ¹²  But then, they must swear oaths using my name, saying, “As surely as the Lord lives, I swear.” ¹³  If they do these things, ¹⁴  then they will be included among the people I call my own. ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 25:5

25:5 He said through them, ¹⁶  ‘Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and stop doing the evil things you are doing. ¹⁷  If you do, I will allow you to continue to live here in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors as a lasting possession. ¹⁸ 

Jeremiah 28:11

28:11 Then he spoke up in the presence of all the people. “The Lord says, ‘In the same way I will break the yoke of servitude of all the nations to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon ¹⁹  before two years are over.’” After he heard this, the prophet Jeremiah departed and went on his way. ²⁰ 

Jeremiah 31:9

31:9 They will come back shedding tears of contrition.

I will bring them back praying prayers of repentance. ²¹ 

I will lead them besides streams of water,

along smooth paths where they will never stumble. ²² 

I will do this because I am Israel’s father;

Ephraim ²³  is my firstborn son.’”

Jeremiah 36:3

36:3 Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about all the disaster I intend to bring on them, they will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing. ²⁴  If they do, I will forgive their sins and the wicked things they have done.” ²⁵ 

Jeremiah 36:7

36:7 Perhaps then they will ask the Lord for mercy and will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing. ²⁶  For the Lord has threatened to bring great anger and wrath against these people.” ²⁷ 

[3:13]  ¹ tn Heb “Only acknowledge your iniquity.”

[3:13]  ² tn The words “You must confess” are repeated to convey the connection. The Hebrew text has an introductory “that” in front of the second line and a coordinative “and” in front of the next two lines.

[3:13]  ³ tc MT reads דְּרָכַיִךְ (dÿrakhayikh, “your ways”), but the BHS editors suggest דּוֹדַיִךְ (dodayikh, “your breasts”) as an example of orthographic confusion. While the proposal makes sense, it remains a conjectural emendation since it is not supported by any actual manuscripts or ancient versions.

[5:5]  ⁴ tn Or “people in power”; Heb “the great ones.”

[5:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”

[5:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”

[5:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “have broken the yoke and torn off the yoke ropes.” Compare Jer 2:20 and the note there.

[7:23]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “Obey me and I will be.” The translation is equivalent syntactically but brings out the emphasis in the command.

[7:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “Walk in all the way that I command you.”

[12:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the ways of my people.” For this nuance of the word “ways” compare 10:2 and the notes there.

[12:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “taught my people to swear by Baal.”

[12:16]  ¹² tn The words “I swear” are not in the text but are implicit to the oath formula. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[12:16]  ¹³ tn The words “If they do this” are not in the text. They are part of an attempt to break up a Hebrew sentence which is long and complex into equivalent shorter sentences consistent with contemporary English style. Verse 16 in Hebrew is all one sentence with a long complex conditional clause followed by a short consequence: “If they carefully learn the ways of my people to swear by name, ‘By the life of the Lord,’ as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people.” The translation strives to create the same contingencies and modifications by breaking up the sentence into shorter sentences in accord with contemporary English style.

[12:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they will be built up among my people.” The expression “be built up among” is without parallel. However, what is involved here is conceptually parallel to the ideas expressed in Isa 19:23-25 and Zech 14:16-19. That is, these people will be allowed to live on their own land, to worship the Lord there, and to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts. To translate literally would be meaningless or misleading for many readers.

[25:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “saying.” The infinitive goes back to “he sent”; i.e., “he sent, saying.”

[25:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Turn [masc. pl.] each person from his wicked way and from the evil of your [masc. pl.] doings.” See the same demand in 23:22.

[25:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “gave to you and your fathers with reference to from ancient times even unto forever.” See the same idiom in 7:7.

[28:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from upon the necks of all the nations.”

[28:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Then the prophet Jeremiah went his way.”

[31:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “They will come with weeping; I will bring them with supplication.” The ideas of contrition and repentance are implicit from the context (cf. vv. 18-19) and are supplied for clarity.

[31:9]  ²⁰ sn Jer 31:8-9 are reminiscent of the “New Exodus” motif of Isa 40-66 which has already been referred to in Jer 16:14-15; 23:7-8. See especially Isa 35:3-10; 40:3-5, 11; 41:17-20; 42:14-17; 43:16-21; 49:9-13. As there, the New Exodus will so outstrip the old that the old will pale in comparison and be almost forgotten (see Jer 23:7-8).

[31:9]  ²¹ sn Ephraim was the second son of Joseph who was elevated to a place of prominence in the family of Jacob by the patriarch’s special blessing. It was the strongest tribe in northern Israel and Samaria lay in its territory. It is often used as a poetic parallel for Israel as here. The poetry is not speaking of two separate entities here; it is a way of repeating an idea for emphasis. Moreover, there is no intent to show special preference for northern Israel over Judah. All Israel is metaphorically God’s son and the object of his special care and concern (Exod 4:22; Deut 32:6).

[36:3]  ²² tn Heb “will turn each one from his wicked way.”

[36:3]  ²³ tn Heb “their iniquity and their sin.”

[36:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “will turn each one from his wicked way.”

[36:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “For great is the anger and the wrath which the Lord has spoken against this people.” The translation uses the more active form which is more in keeping with contemporary English style.