Jeremiah 7:8

7:8 “‘But just look at you! ¹  You are putting your confidence in a false belief ²  that will not deliver you. ³ 

Jeremiah 7:19

7:19 But I am not really the one being troubled!” ⁴  says the Lord. “Rather they are bringing trouble on themselves to their own shame! ⁵ 

Jeremiah 13:23

13:23 But there is little hope for you ever doing good,

you who are so accustomed to doing evil.

Can an Ethiopian ⁶  change the color of his skin?

Can a leopard remove its spots? ⁷ 

Jeremiah 42:13

42:13 “You must not disobey the Lord your God by saying, ‘We will not stay in this land.’

[7:8]  ¹ tn Heb “Behold!”

[7:8]  ² tn Heb “You are trusting in lying words.” See the similar phrase in v. 4 and the note there.

[7:8]  ³ tn Heb “not profit [you].”

[7:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “Is it I whom they provoke?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer which is made explicit in the translation.

[7:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “Is it not themselves to their own shame?” The rhetorical question expects a positive answer which is made explicit in the translation.

[13:23]  ⁷ tn This is a common proverb in English coming from this biblical passage. For cultures where it is not proverbial perhaps it would be better to translate “Can black people change the color of their skin?” Strictly speaking these are “Cushites” inhabitants of a region along the upper Nile south of Egypt. The Greek text is responsible for the identification with Ethiopia. The term in Greek is actually a epithet = “burnt face.”

[13:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? [Then] you also will be able to do good who are accustomed to do evil.” The English sentence has been restructured and rephrased in an attempt to produce some of the same rhetorical force the Hebrew original has in this context.