Jeremiah 3:5

3:5 You will not always be angry with me, will you?

You will not be mad at me forever, will you?’ ¹ 

That is what you say,

but you continually do all the evil that you can.” ² 

Jeremiah 5:24

5:24 They do not say to themselves, ³ 

“Let us revere the Lord our God.

It is he who gives us the autumn rains and the spring rains at the proper time.

It is he who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.” ⁴ 

[3:5]  ¹ tn Heb “Will he keep angry forever? Will he maintain [it] to the end?” The questions are rhetorical and expect a negative answer. The change to direct address in the English translation is intended to ease the problem of the rapid transition, common in Hebrew style (but not in English), from second person direct address in the preceding lines to third person indirect address in these two lines. See GKC 462 §144.p.

[3:5]  ² tn Heb “You do the evil and you are able.” This is an example of hendiadys, meaning “You do all the evil that you are able to do.”

[5:24]  ³ tn Heb “say in their hearts.”

[5:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “who keeps for us the weeks appointed for harvest.”