Jeremiah 7:11

7:11 Do you think this temple I have claimed as my own ¹  is to be a hideout for robbers? ²  You had better take note! ³  I have seen for myself what you have done! says the Lord.

Jeremiah 13:27

13:27 People of Jerusalem, ⁴  I have seen your adulterous worship,

your shameless prostitution to, and your lustful pursuit of, other gods. ⁵ 

I have seen your disgusting acts of worship ⁶ 

on the hills throughout the countryside.

You are doomed to destruction! ⁷ 

How long will you continue to be unclean?’”

Jeremiah 30:6

30:6 Ask yourselves this and consider it carefully: ⁸ 

Have you ever seen a man give birth to a baby?

Why then do I see all these strong men

grabbing their stomachs in pain like ⁹  a woman giving birth?

And why do their faces

turn so deathly pale?

Jeremiah 46:5

46:5 What do I see?” ¹⁰  says the Lord. ¹¹ 

“The soldiers ¹²  are terrified.

They are retreating.

They have been defeated.

They are overcome with terror; ¹³ 

they desert quickly

without looking back.

[7:11]  ¹ tn Heb “over which my name is called.” For this nuance of this idiom cf. BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph.2.d(4) and see the usage in 2 Sam 12:28.

[7:11]  ² tn Heb “Is this house…a den/cave of robbers in your eyes?”

[7:11]  ³ tn Heb “Behold!”

[13:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “Jerusalem.” This word has been pulled up from the end of the verse to help make the transition. The words “people of” have been supplied in the translation here to ease the difficulty mentioned earlier of sustaining the personification throughout.

[13:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “[I have seen] your adulteries, your neighings, and your shameless prostitution.” The meanings of the metaphorical references have been incorporated in the translation for the sake of clarity for readers of all backgrounds.

[13:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “your disgusting acts.” This word is almost always used of idolatry or of the idols themselves. See BDB 1055 s.v. שִׁקֻּוּץ and Deut 29:17 and Jer 4:1; 7:30.

[13:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “Woe to you!”

[30:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “Ask and see/consider.”

[30:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “with their hands on their loins.” The word rendered “loins” refers to the area between the ribs and the thighs.

[46:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Why do I see?” The rendering is that of J. A. Thompson (Jeremiah [NICOT], 685, 88) and J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 301; TEV; NIV). The question is not asking for information but is expressing surprise or wonder (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 951).

[46:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.” This phrase, which is part of a messenger formula (i.e., that the words that are spoken are from him), are actually at the end of the verse. They have been put here for better poetic balance and to better identify the “I.”

[46:5]  ¹² tn Heb “Their soldiers.” These words are actually at the midpoint of the stanza as the subject of the third of the five verbs. However, as G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 291) note, this is the subject of all five verbs “are terrified,” “are retreating,” “have been defeated,” “have run away,” and “have not looked back.” The subject is put at the front to avoid an unidentified “they.”

[46:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “terror is all around.”