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 7:23

7:23 I also explicitly commanded them: ⁵  “Obey me. If you do, I ⁶  will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you ⁷  and things will go well with you.”

Jeremiah 10:5

10:5 Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field.

They cannot talk.

They must be carried

because they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of them

because they cannot hurt you.

And they do not have any power to help you.” ⁸ 

Jeremiah 11:6

11:6 The Lord said to me, “Announce all the following words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of my covenant with you ⁹  and carry them out!

Jeremiah 14:12

14:12 Even if they fast, I will not hear their cries for help. Even if they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. ¹⁰  Instead, I will kill them through wars, famines, and plagues.” ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 23:15

23:15 So then I, the Lord who rules over all, ¹² 

have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem: ¹³ 

‘I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of suffering

and drink the poison water of judgment. ¹⁴ 

For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason ¹⁵ 

that ungodliness ¹⁶  has spread throughout the land.’”

Jeremiah 29:17

29:17 The Lord who rules over all ¹⁷  says, ‘I will bring war, ¹⁸  starvation, and disease on them. I will treat them like figs that are so rotten ¹⁹  they cannot be eaten.

Jeremiah 49:37

49:37 I will make the people of Elam terrified of their enemies,

who are seeking to kill them.

I will vent my fierce anger

and bring disaster upon them,” ²⁰  says the Lord. ²¹ 

“I will send armies chasing after them ²² 

until I have completely destroyed them.

[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.

[7:23]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “Obey me and I will be.” The translation is equivalent syntactically but brings out the emphasis in the command.

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

[10:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “And it is not in them to do good either.”

[11:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “the terms of this covenant.” However, this was a separate message and the ambiguity of “this” could still cause some confusion.

[14:12]  ¹⁷ sn See 6:16-20 for parallels.

[14:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “through sword, starvation, and plague.”

[23:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[23:15]  ²² tn Heb “Therefore, thus says the Lord…concerning the prophets.” The person is shifted to better conform with English style and the word “of Jerusalem” is supplied in the translation to avoid the possible misunderstanding that the judgment applies to the prophets of Samaria who had already been judged long before.

[23:15]  ²³ tn Heb “I will feed this people wormwood and make them drink poison water.” For these same words of judgment on another group see 9:15 (9:14 HT). “Wormwood” and “poison water” are not to be understood literally here but are symbolic of judgment and suffering. See, e.g., BDB 542 s.v. לַעֲנָה.

[23:15]  ²⁴ tn The compound preposition מֵאֵת (me’et) expresses source or origin (see BDB 86 s.v. אֵת 4.c). Context shows that the origin is in their false prophesying which encourages people in their evil behavior.

[23:15]  ²⁵ sn A word that derives from this same Hebrew word is used in v. 11 at the beginning of the Lord’s criticism of the prophet and priest. This is a common rhetorical device for bracketing material that belongs together. The criticism has, however, focused on the false prophets and the judgment due them.

[29:17]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” See the study note on 2:19 for explanation of this title.

[29:17]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the sword.”

[29:17]  ²⁷ tn The meaning of this word is somewhat uncertain. It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. BDB 1045 s.v. שֹׁעָר relates it to the noun “horrible thing” (translated “something shocking”) in Jer 5:30; 23:14 and defines it as “horrid, disgusting.” HALOT 1495 s.v. שֹׁעָר relates it to the same noun and define it as “rotten; corrupt.” That nuance is accepted here.

[49:37]  ²⁹ tn Heb “I will bring disaster upon them, even my fierce anger.”

[49:37]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[49:37]  ³¹ tn Heb “I will send the sword after them.”