Jeremiah 8:12

8:12 Are they ashamed because they have done such disgusting things?

No, they are not at all ashamed!

They do not even know how to blush!

So they will die just like others have died. ¹ 

They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 23:2

23:2 So the Lord God of Israel has this to say about the leaders who are ruling over his people: “You have caused my people ²  to be dispersed and driven into exile. You have not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil that you have done. ³  I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁴ 

Jeremiah 46:21

46:21 Even her mercenaries ⁵ 

will prove to be like pampered, ⁶  well-fed calves.

For they too will turn and run away.

They will not stand their ground

when ⁷  the time for them to be destroyed comes,

the time for them to be punished.

Jeremiah 48:44

48:44 Anyone who flees at the sound of terror

will fall into a pit.

Anyone who climbs out of the pit

will be caught in a trap. ⁸ 

For the time is coming

when I will punish the people of Moab. ⁹ 

I, the Lord, affirm it! ¹⁰ 

[8:12]  ¹ tn Heb “They will fall among the fallen.”

[23:2]  ² tn Heb “about the shepherds who are shepherding my people. ‘You have caused my sheep….’” For the metaphor see the study note on the previous verse.

[23:2]  ³ tn Heb “Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who should be shepherding my people: You have scattered my sheep and driven them away and you have not taken care of them. Behold I will visit upon you the evil of your deeds.” “Therefore” announces the judgment which does not come until “Behold.” It is interrupted by the messenger formula and a further indictment. The original has been broken up to conform more to contemporary English style, the metaphors have been interpreted for clarity and the connections between the indictments and the judgments have been carried by “So.”

[23:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[46:21]  ³ tn Heb “her hirelings in her midst.”

[46:21]  ⁴ tn The word “pampered” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation to explain the probable meaning of the simile. The mercenaries were well cared for like stall-fed calves, but in the face of the danger they will prove no help because they will turn and run away without standing their ground. Some see the point of the simile to be that they too are fattened for slaughter. However, the next two lines do not fit that interpretation too well.

[46:21]  ⁵ tn The temporal use of the particle כִּי (ki; BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 2.a) seems more appropriate to the context than the causal use.

[48:44]  ⁴ sn Jer 48:43-44a are in the main the same as Isa 24:17-18 which shows that the judgment was somewhat proverbial. For a very similar kind of argumentation see Amos 5:19; judgment is unavoidable.

[48:44]  ⁵ tn Heb “For I will bring upon her, even upon Moab, the year of her punishment.”

[48:44]  ⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”