Yeremia 16:17

16:17 For I see everything they do. Their wicked ways are not hidden from me. Their sin is not hidden away where I cannot see it. ¹ 

Yeremia 23:10

23:10 For the land is full of people unfaithful to him. ² 

They live wicked lives and they misuse their power. ³ 

So the land is dried up ⁴  because it is under his curse. ⁵ 

The pastures in the wilderness are withered.

Yeremia 25:28

25:28 If they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink it, tell them that the Lord who rules over all says ⁶  ‘You most certainly must drink it! ⁷ 

Yeremia 29:17

29:17 The Lord who rules over all ⁸  says, ‘I will bring war, ⁹  starvation, and disease on them. I will treat them like figs that are so rotten ¹⁰  they cannot be eaten.

[16:17]  ¹ tn Heb “For my eyes are upon all their ways. They are not hidden from before me. And their sin is not hidden away from before my eyes.”

[23:10]  ² tn Heb “adulterers.” But spiritual adultery is clearly meant as also in 3:8-9; 9:2, and probably also 5:7.

[23:10]  ³ tn For the word translated “They live…lives” see usage in Jer 8:6. For the idea of “misusing” their power (Heb “their power is not right” i.e., used in the wrong way) see 2 Kgs 7:9; 17:9. In the original text this line (really two lines in the Hebrew poetry) are at the end of the verse. However, this places the antecedent too far away and could lead to confusion. The lines have been rearranged to avoid such confusion.

[23:10]  ⁴ tn For the use of this verb see 12:4 and the note there.

[23:10]  ⁵ tc The translation follows the majority of Hebrew mss (מֵאָלָה, me’alah) rather than the Greek and Syriac version and a few Hebrew mss which read “because of these” (מֵאֵלֶּה [me’elleh], referring to the people unfaithful to him).

[23:10]  sn The curse is, of course, the covenant curse. See Deut 29:20-21 (29:19-20 HT) and for the specific curse see Deut 28:23-24. The curse is appropriate since their “adultery” lay in attributing their fertility to the god Baal (see Hos 2:9-13 (2:11-15 HT) and violating the covenant (see Hos 4:1-3).

[25:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “Tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord…’” The translation is intended to eliminate one level of imbedded quote marks to help avoid confusion.

[25:28]  ⁷ tn The translation attempts to reflect the emphatic construction of the infinitive absolute preceding the finite verb which is here an obligatory imperfect. (See Joüon 2:371-72 §113.m and 2:423 §123.h, and compare usage in Gen 15:13.)

[29:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” See the study note on 2:19 for explanation of this title.

[29:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “the sword.”

[29:17]  ¹⁰ tn The meaning of this word is somewhat uncertain. It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. BDB 1045 s.v. שֹׁעָר relates it to the noun “horrible thing” (translated “something shocking”) in Jer 5:30; 23:14 and defines it as “horrid, disgusting.” HALOT 1495 s.v. שֹׁעָר relates it to the same noun and define it as “rotten; corrupt.” That nuance is accepted here.

[29:17]  sn Compare Jer 24:8-10 in its context for the figure here.