Jeremiah 8:4

Willful Disregard of God Will Lead to Destruction

8:4 The Lord said to me, ¹ 

“Tell them, ‘The Lord says,

Do people not get back up when they fall down?

Do they not turn around when they go the wrong way? ² 

Jeremiah 30:19

30:19 Out of those places you will hear songs of thanksgiving ³ 

and the sounds of laughter and merriment.

I will increase their number and they will not dwindle away. ⁴ 

I will bring them honor and they will no longer be despised.

Jeremiah 44:5

44:5 But the people of Jerusalem and Judah ⁵  would not listen or pay any attention. They would not stop the wickedness they were doing nor quit sacrificing to other gods. ⁶ 

[8:4]  ¹ tn The words “the Lord said to me” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation to make clear who is speaking and who is being addressed.

[8:4]  ² sn There is a play on two different nuances of the same Hebrew word that means “turn” and “return,” “turn away” and “turn back.”

[30:19]  ³ tn Heb “Out of them will come thanksgiving and a sound of those who are playful.”

[30:19]  ⁴ sn Compare Jer 29:6.

[44:5]  ⁵ tn There appears to be a deliberate shift in the pronouns used in vv. 2-5. “You” refers to the people living in Egypt who are being addressed (v. 2) and to the people of present and past generations to whom the Lord persistently sent the prophets (v. 4). “They” refers to the people of Jerusalem and the towns of Judah who have suffered disaster (v. 2) because of the wickedness of sacrificing to other gods (vv. 3, 5). The referents have been explicitly identified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[44:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “They did not listen or incline their ear [= pay attention] by turning from their wickedness by not sacrificing to other gods.” The לְ (lamed) + the negative + the infinitive is again epexegetical. The sentence has been restructured and more idiomatic English expressions have been used to better conform with contemporary English style but an attempt has been made to retain the basic relationships of subordination.