Jeremiah 5:5

5:5 I will go to the leaders ¹ 

and speak with them.

Surely they know what the Lord demands. ² 

Surely they know what their God requires of them.” ³ 

Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authority

and refuse to submit to him. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 6:16

6:16 The Lord said to his people: ⁵ 

“You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. ⁶ 

Ask where the old, reliable paths ⁷  are.

Ask where the path is that leads to blessing ⁸  and follow it.

If you do, you will find rest for your souls.”

But they said, “We will not follow it!”

[5:5]  ¹ tn Or “people in power”; Heb “the great ones.”

[5:5]  ² tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”

[5:5]  ³ tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”

[5:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “have broken the yoke and torn off the yoke ropes.” Compare Jer 2:20 and the note there.

[6:16]  ⁵ tn The words, “to his people” are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

[6:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “Stand at the crossroads and look.”

[6:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “the ancient path,” i.e., the path the Lord set out in ancient times (cf. Deut 32:7).

[6:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “the way of/to the good.”