Jeremiah 3:25

3:25 Let us acknowledge ¹  our shame.

Let us bear the disgrace that we deserve. ² 

For we have sinned against the Lord our God,

both we and our ancestors.

From earliest times to this very day

we have not obeyed the Lord our God.’

Jeremiah 8:14

Jeremiah Laments over the Coming Destruction

8:14 The people say, ³ 

“Why are we just sitting here?

Let us gather together inside the fortified cities. ⁴ 

Let us at least die there fighting, ⁵ 

since the Lord our God has condemned us to die.

He has condemned us to drink the poison waters of judgment ⁶ 

because we have sinned against him. ⁷ 

Jeremiah 26:19

26:19 King Hezekiah and all the people of Judah did not put him to death, did they? Did not Hezekiah show reverence for the Lord and seek the Lord’s favor? ⁸  Did not ⁹  the Lord forgo destroying them ¹⁰  as he threatened he would? But we are on the verge of bringing great disaster on ourselves.” ¹¹ 

[3:25]  ¹ tn Heb “Let us lie down in….”

[3:25]  ² tn Heb “Let us be covered with disgrace.”

[8:14]  ³ tn The words “The people say” are not in the text but are implicit in the shift of speakers between vv. 4-13 and vv. 14-16. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “Gather together and let us enter into the fortified cities.”

[8:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “Let us die there.” The words “at least” and “fighting” are intended to bring out the contrast of passive surrender to death in the open country and active resistance to the death implicit in the context.

[8:14]  ⁶ tn The words “of judgment” are not in the text but are intended to show that “poison water” is not literal but figurative of judgment at the hands of God through the agency of the enemy mentioned in v. 16.

[8:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “against the Lord.” The switch is for the sake of smoothness in English.

[26:19]  ⁵ tn This Hebrew idiom (חָלָה פָּנִים, khalah panim) is often explained in terms of “stroking” or “patting the face” of someone, seeking to gain his favor. It is never used in a literal sense and is found in contexts of prayer (Exod 32:11; Ps 119:158), worship (Zech 8:21-22), humble submission (2 Chr 3:12), or amendment of behavior (Dan 9:13). All were true to one extent or another of Hezekiah.

[26:19]  ⁶ tn The he interrogative (הַ)with the negative governs all three of the verbs, the perfect and the two vav (ו) consecutive imperfects that follow it. The next clause has disjunctive word order and introduces a contrast. The question expects a positive answer.

[26:19]  ⁷ tn For the translation of the terms involved here see the translator’s note on 18:8.

[26:19]  ⁸ tn Or “great harm to ourselves.” The word “disaster” (or “harm”) is the same one that has been translated “destroying” in the preceding line and in vv. 3 and 13.