Jeremiah 8:6

8:6 I have listened to them very carefully, ¹ 

but they do not speak honestly.

None of them regrets the evil he has done.

None of them says, “I have done wrong!” ² 

All of them persist in their own wayward course ³ 

like a horse charging recklessly into battle.

Jeremiah 18:21

18:21 So let their children die of starvation.

Let them be cut down by the sword. ⁴ 

Let their wives lose their husbands and children.

Let the older men die of disease ⁵ 

and the younger men die by the sword in battle.

[8:6]  ¹ tn Heb “I have paid attention and I have listened.” This is another case of two concepts being joined by “and” where one expresses the main idea and the other acts as an adverbial or adjectival modifier (a figure called hendiadys).

[8:6]  ² tn Heb “What have I done?” The addition of the word “wrong” is implicit in the context and is supplied in the translation for clarity. The rhetorical question does not function as a denial of wrongdoing, but rather as contrite shock at one’s own wrongdoing. It is translated as a declaration for the sake of clarity.

[8:6]  ³ tn Heb “each one of them turns aside into their own running course.”

[18:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “be poured out to the hand [= power] of the sword.” For this same expression see Ezek 35:5; Ps 63:10 (63:11 HT). Comparison with those two passages show that it involved death by violent means, perhaps death in battle.

[18:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “be slain by death.” The commentaries are generally agreed that this refers to death by disease or plague as in 15:2. Hence, the reference is to the deadly trio of sword, starvation, and disease which were often connected with war. See the notes on 15:2.