Jeremiah 15
15
Lamenting Jerusalem’s dire circumstances
1The LORD said to me: Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me, I wouldn’t change my mind about these people. Send them away from me. Let them go! 2And if they say, “Go where?” tell them, This is what the LORD proclaims:
Those marked for death—to death,
those marked for war—to war,
those marked for famine—to famine, and those marked for exile—to exile.
3I will appoint over them four agents#15.3 Or families of death, declares the LORD: soldiers to kill, dogs to drag off, and vultures and wild animals to devour and destroy. 4Because of what Judah’s King Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son, has done in Jerusalem, I will make them an object of horror to all nations on earth.
5Who will pity you, Jerusalem?
Who will shed tears over you?
Who will stop and ask how you’re doing?
6You have deserted me,
declares the LORD.
You have turned your back on me.
So I will turn my hand against you
and destroy you.
I’m tired of holding back.
7I will winnow them with a winnowing fork
at the gates of their country.
I will bereave and destroy my people
because they haven’t changed their ways.
8Their widows will outnumber
the sand on the shore.
I will bring a destroyer in broad daylight
against the mothers of young men.#15.8 Heb uncertain
Suddenly I will bring distress
and terror upon them.
9The mother of seven
will grow weak and gasp for air;
her sun will set while it is yet day;
she will be ashamed and disgraced.
I will deliver the survivors to the sword,
to the power of their enemies,
declares the LORD.
10I wish I had never been born! I have become a source of conflict and dissension in my own country. Even though I haven’t lent or borrowed, still everyone curses me.
11The LORD said:
Haven’t I taken care of you?
Haven’t I helped you with your enemies
in time of trouble and distress?#15.11 Heb uncertain
12Can a person shatter iron,
iron from the north, or bronze?
13Your wealth and belongings
I will deliver as plunder,
without a fee,
because of all your sins
throughout your territory.
14I will make you serve your enemies
in a land you don’t know,
for my anger blazes like a fire
that won’t go out.
15You understand, LORD!
Remember me and act on my behalf.
Bring judgment on those who torment me.
In your mercy, spare my life.#15.15 Heb uncertain
Consider how I’m insulted on your account.
16When your words turned up, I feasted on them;
and they became my joy, the delight of my heart,
because I belong to you,
LORD God of heavenly forces.
17I didn’t join the festive occasions;
I took no delight in them.
I sat alone
because your hand was upon me
and you had filled me with curses.
18Why am I always in pain?
Why is my wound incurable,
so far beyond healing?
You have become for me as unreliable
as a spring gone dry!
19Therefore, the LORD proclaims:
If you return to me, I will take you back
and let you stand before me.
If you utter what is worthwhile,
not what is worthless,
you will be my spokesman.
They will turn to you,
not you to them!
20I will make you a sturdy bronze wall
against these people.
They will attack you,
but they won’t triumph,
because I am with you
to protect and rescue you,
declares the LORD.
21I will rescue you from the hand of the wicked;
I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent.
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Jeremiah 15: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
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.