Jeremiah 15
15
Judah’s Inevitable Doom
1Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for these people, I wouldn’t help them. Away with them! Get them out of my sight! 2And if they say to you, ‘But where can we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘Those who are destined for death, to death;
those who are destined for war, to war;
those who are destined for famine, to famine;
those who are destined for captivity, to captivity.’
3“I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” says the Lord. “I will send the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, the vultures to devour, and the wild animals to finish up what is left. 4Because of the wicked things Manasseh son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem, I will make my people an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
5“Who will feel sorry for you, Jerusalem?
Who will weep for you?
Who will even bother to ask how you are?
6You have abandoned me
and turned your back on me,”
says the Lord.
“Therefore, I will raise my fist to destroy you.
I am tired of always giving you another chance.
7I will winnow you like grain at the gates of your cities
and take away the children you hold dear.
I will destroy my own people,
because they refuse to change their evil ways.
8There will be more widows
than the grains of sand on the seashore.
At noontime I will bring a destroyer
against the mothers of young men.
I will cause anguish and terror
to come upon them suddenly.
9The mother of seven grows faint and gasps for breath;
her sun has gone down while it is still day.
She sits childless now,
disgraced and humiliated.
And I will hand over those who are left
to be killed by the enemy.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Jeremiah’s Complaint
10Then I said,
“What sorrow is mine, my mother.
Oh, that I had died at birth!
I am hated everywhere I go.
I am neither a lender who threatens to foreclose
nor a borrower who refuses to pay—
yet they all curse me.”
11The Lord replied,
“I will take care of you, Jeremiah.
Your enemies will ask you to plead on their behalf
in times of trouble and distress.
12Can a man break a bar of iron from the north,
or a bar of bronze?
13At no cost to them,
I will hand over your wealth and treasures
as plunder to your enemies,
for sin runs rampant in your land.
14I will tell your enemies to take you
as captives to a foreign land.
For my anger blazes like a fire
that will burn forever.#15:14 As in some Hebrew manuscripts (see also 17:4); most Hebrew manuscripts read will burn against you.”
15Then I said,
“Lord, you know what’s happening to me.
Please step in and help me. Punish my persecutors!
Please give me time; don’t let me die young.
It’s for your sake that I am suffering.
16When I discovered your words, I devoured them.
They are my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name,
O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.
17I never joined the people in their merry feasts.
I sat alone because your hand was on me.
I was filled with indignation at their sins.
18Why then does my suffering continue?
Why is my wound so incurable?
Your help seems as uncertain as a seasonal brook,
like a spring that has gone dry.”
19This is how the Lord responds:
“If you return to me, I will restore you
so you can continue to serve me.
If you speak good words rather than worthless ones,
you will be my spokesman.
You must influence them;
do not let them influence you!
20They will fight against you like an attacking army,
but I will make you as secure as a fortified wall of bronze.
They will not conquer you,
for I am with you to protect and rescue you.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
21Yes, I will certainly keep you safe from these wicked men.
I will rescue you from their cruel hands.”
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Jeremiah 15: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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Jeremias (Jeremiah) 15
15
1And the Lord said to me: If Moses and Samuel shall stand before me, my soul is not towards this people. Cast them out from my sight and let them go forth.
2And if they shall say unto thee: Whither shall we go forth? Thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: Such as are for death, to death: and such as are for the sword, to the sword: and such as are for famine, to famine: and such as are for captivity, to captivity.
3And I will visit them with four kinds, saith the Lord: The sword to kill, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the air and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.
4And I will give them up to the rage of all the kingdoms of the earth: because of Manasses the son of Ezechias the king of Juda, for all that he did in Jerusalem.
5For who shall have pity on thee, O Jerusalem? Or who shall bemoan thee? Or who shall go to pray for thy peace?
6Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art gone backward: and I will stretch out my hand against thee, and I will destroy thee. I am weary of entreating thee.
7And I will scatter them with a fan in the gates of the land: I have killed and destroyed my people, and yet they are not returned from their ways.
8Their widows are multiplied unto me above the sand of the sea: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young man a spoiler at noonday: I have cast a terror on a sudden upon the cities.
9She that hath borne seven is become weak, her soul hath fainted away, her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she is confounded and ashamed. And the residue of them I will give up to the sword in the sight of their enemies, saith the Lord.
10Woe is me, my mother! Why hast thou borne me, a man of strife, a man of contention to all the earth? I have not lent on usury, neither hath any man lent to me on usury: yet all curse me.
11The Lord saith to me: Assuredly it shall be well with thy remnant, assuredly I shall help thee in the time of affliction and in the time of tribulation, against the enemy.
12Shall iron be allied with the iron from the north, and the brass?
13Thy riches and thy treasures I will give unto spoil for nothing, because of all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
14And I will bring thy enemies out of a land which thou knowest not, for a fire is kindled in my rage: it shall burn upon you.
15O Lord, thou knowest, remember me, and visit me, and defend me from them that persecute me: do not defend me in thy patience, know that for thy sake I have suffered reproach.
16Thy words were found, and I did eat them: and thy word was to me a joy and gladness of my heart, for thy name is called upon me, O Lord God of hosts.
17I sat not in the assembly of jesters, nor did I make a boast of the presence of thy hand: I sat alone, because thou hast filled me with threats.
18Why is my sorrow become perpetual, and my wound desperate so as to refuse to be healed? It is become to me as the falsehood of deceitful waters that cannot be trusted.
19Therefore thus saith the Lord: If thou wilt be converted, I will convert thee, and thou shalt stand before my face: and if thou wilt separate the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth. They shall be turned to thee, and thou shalt not be turned to them.
20And I will make thee to this people as a strong wall of brass: and they shall fight against thee and shall not prevail. For I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
21And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the mighty.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.