Yeremia 18:12

18:12 But they just keep saying, ‘We do not care what you say! ¹  We will do whatever we want to do! We will continue to behave wickedly and stubbornly!’” ² 

Yeremia 18:16

18:16 So their land will become an object of horror. ³ 

People will forever hiss out their scorn over it.

All who pass that way will be filled with horror

and will shake their heads in derision. ⁴ 

[18:12]  ¹ tn Heb “It is useless!” See the same expression in a similar context in Jer 2:25.

[18:12]  ² tn Heb “We will follow our own plans and do each one according to the stubbornness of his own wicked heart.”

[18:12]  sn This has been the consistent pattern of their behavior. See 7:24; 9:13; 13:10; 16:12.

[18:16]  ³ tn There may be a deliberate double meaning involved here. The word translated here “an object of horror” refers both to destruction (cf. 2:15; 4:17) and the horror or dismay that accompanies it (cf. 5:30; 8:21). The fact that there is no conjunction or preposition in front of the noun “hissing” that follows this suggests that the reaction is in view here, not the cause.

[18:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “an object of lasting hissing. All who pass that way will be appalled and shake their head.”

[18:16]  sn The actions of “shaking of the head” and “hissing” were obviously gestures of scorn and derision. See Lam 2:15-16.