Yeremia 2:10

2:10 Go west ¹  across the sea to the coasts of Cyprus ²  and see.

Send someone east to Kedar ³  and have them look carefully.

See if such a thing as this has ever happened:

Yeremia 3:16

3:16 In those days, your population will greatly increase ⁴  in the land. At that time,” says the Lord, “people will no longer talk about having the ark ⁵  that contains the Lord’s covenant with us. ⁶  They will not call it to mind, remember it, or miss it. No, that will not be done any more! ⁷ 

Yeremia 4:11

4:11 “At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem ⁸  will be told,

‘A scorching wind will sweep down

from the hilltops in the desert on ⁹  my dear people. ¹⁰ 

It will not be a gentle breeze

for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff. ¹¹ 

Yeremia 6:11

6:11 I am as full of anger as you are, Lord, ¹² 

I am tired of trying to hold it in.”

The Lord answered, ¹³ 

“Vent it, then, ¹⁴  on the children who play in the street

and on the young men who are gathered together.

Husbands and wives are to be included, ¹⁵ 

as well as the old and those who are advanced in years.

Yeremia 8:7

8:7 Even the stork knows

when it is time to move on. ¹⁶ 

The turtledove, swallow, and crane ¹⁷ 

recognize ¹⁸  the normal times for their migration.

But my people pay no attention

to ¹⁹  what I, the Lord, require of them. ²⁰ 

Yeremia 9:24

9:24 If people want to boast, they should boast about this:

They should boast that they understand and know me.

They should boast that they know and understand

that I, the Lord, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth

and that I desire people to do these things,” ²¹ 

says the Lord.

Yeremia 15:17

15:17 I did not spend my time in the company of other people,

laughing and having a good time.

I stayed to myself because I felt obligated to you ²² 

and because I was filled with anger at what they had done.

Yeremia 23:2

23:2 So the Lord God of Israel has this to say about the leaders who are ruling over his people: “You have caused my people ²³  to be dispersed and driven into exile. You have not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil that you have done. ²⁴  I, the Lord, affirm it! ²⁵ 

Yeremia 23:36

23:36 You must no longer say that the Lord’s message is burdensome. ²⁶  For what is ‘burdensome’ ²⁷  really pertains to what a person himself says. ²⁸  You are misrepresenting ²⁹  the words of our God, the living God, the Lord who rules over all. ³⁰ 

Yeremia 24:8

24:8 “I, the Lord, also solemnly assert: ‘King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the people who remain in Jerusalem ³¹  or who have gone to live in Egypt are like those bad figs. I consider them to be just like those bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. ³² 

Yeremia 29:16

29:16 But just listen to what the Lord has to say about ³³  the king who occupies David’s throne and all your fellow countrymen who are still living in this city of Jerusalem ³⁴  and were not carried off into exile with you.

Yeremia 29:26

29:26 “The Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada. ³⁵  He has put you in charge in the Lord’s temple of controlling ³⁶  any lunatic ³⁷  who pretends to be a prophet. ³⁸  And it is your duty to put any such person in the stocks ³⁹  with an iron collar around his neck. ⁴⁰ 

Yeremia 29:28

29:28 For he has even sent a message to us here in Babylon. He wrote and told us, ⁴¹  “You will be there a long time. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.”’” ⁴² 

Yeremia 29:32

29:32 Because he has done this,” ⁴³  the Lord says, “I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his whole family. There will not be any of them left to experience the good things that I will do for my people. I, the Lord, affirm it! For he counseled rebellion against the Lord.”’” ⁴⁴ 

Yeremia 32:24

32:24 Even now siege ramps have been built up around the city ⁴⁵  in order to capture it. War, ⁴⁶  starvation, and disease are sure to make the city fall into the hands of the Babylonians ⁴⁷  who are attacking it. ⁴⁸  Lord, ⁴⁹  you threatened that this would happen. Now you can see that it is already taking place. ⁵⁰ 

Yeremia 33:13

33:13 I, the Lord, say that shepherds will once again count their sheep as they pass into the fold. ⁵¹  They will do this in all the towns in the southern hill country, the western foothills, the southern hill country, the territory of Benjamin, the villages surrounding Jerusalem, and the towns of Judah.’ ⁵² 

Yeremia 38:23

38:23 “All your wives and your children will be turned over to the Babylonians. ⁵³  You yourself will not escape from them but will be captured by the ⁵⁴  king of Babylon. This city will be burned down.” ⁵⁵ 

Yeremia 41:16

41:16 Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him led off all the people who had been left alive at Mizpah. They had rescued them from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after he killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. They led off the men, women, children, soldiers, and court officials whom they had brought away from Gibeon.

Yeremia 48:2

48:2 People will not praise Moab any more.

The enemy will capture Heshbon ⁵⁶  and plot ⁵⁷  how to destroy Moab, ⁵⁸ 

saying, ‘Come, let’s put an end to that nation!’

City of Madmen, you will also be destroyed. ⁵⁹ 

A destructive army will march against you. ⁶⁰ 

Yeremia 51:58

51:58 This is what the Lord who rules over all ⁶¹  says,

“Babylon’s thick wall ⁶²  will be completely demolished. ⁶³ 

Her high gates will be set on fire.

The peoples strive for what does not satisfy. ⁶⁴ 

The nations grow weary trying to get what will be destroyed.” ⁶⁵ 

[2:10]  ¹ tn Heb “For go west.”

[2:10]  ² tn Heb “pass over to the coasts of Kittim.” The words “west across the sea” in this line and “east of” in the next are implicit in the text and are supplied in the translation to give geographical orientation.

[2:10]  sn The Hebrew term translated Cyprus (“Kittim”) originally referred to the island of Cyprus but later was used for the lands in the west, including Macedonia (1 Macc 1:1; 8:5) and Rome (Dan 11:30). It is used here as part of a figure called merism to denote the lands in the west as opposed to Kedar which was in the east. The figure includes polar opposites to indicate totality, i.e., everywhere from west to east.

[2:10]  ³ sn Kedar is the home of the Bedouin tribes in the Syro-Arabian desert. See Gen 25:18 and Jer 49:38. See also the previous note for the significance of the reference here.

[3:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “you will become numerous and fruitful.”

[3:16]  ⁵ tn Or “chest.”

[3:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “the ark of the covenant.” It is called this because it contained the tables of the law which in abbreviated form constituted their covenant obligations to the Lord, cf. Exod 31:18; 32:15; 34:29.

[3:16]  ⁷ tn Or “Nor will another one be made”; Heb “one will not do/make [it?] again.”

[4:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “this people and Jerusalem.”

[4:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “A scorching wind from the hilltops in the desert toward…”

[4:11]  sn The allusion is, of course, to the destructive forces of the enemy armies of Babylon compared above in 4:7 to a destructive lion and here to the destructive desert winds of the Near Eastern sirocco.

[4:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” The term “daughter of” is appositional to “my people” and is supplied in the translation as a term of sympathy and endearment. Compare the common expression “daughter of Zion.”

[4:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “not for winnowing and not for cleansing.” The words “It will not be a gentle breeze” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection. They are supplied in the translation here for clarification.

[6:11]  ¹² tn Heb “I am full of the wrath of the Lord.”

[6:11]  ¹³ tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the words that follow. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Pour it out.”

[6:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “are to be captured.”

[8:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “its appointed time.” The translation is contextually motivated to avoid lack of clarity.

[8:7]  ¹⁷ tn There is debate in the commentaries and lexicons about the identification of some of these birds, particularly regarding the identification of the “swallow” which is more likely the “swift” and the “crane” which some identify with the “thrush.” For a discussion see the Bible encyclopedias and the UBS handbook Fauna and Flora of the Bible. The identity of the individual birds makes little difference to the point being made and “swallow” is more easily identifiable to the average reader than the “swift.”

[8:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “keep.” Ironically birds, which do not think, obey the laws of nature, but Israel does not obey the laws of God.

[8:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “do not know.” But here as elsewhere the word “know” is more than an intellectual matter. It is intended here to summarize both “know” and “follow” (Heb “observe”) in the preceding lines.

[8:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the ordinance/requirement of the Lord.”

[9:24]  ²¹ tn Or “fairness and justice, because these things give me pleasure.” Verse 24 reads in Hebrew, “But let the one who brags brag in this: understanding and knowing me that I, the Lord, do faithfulness, justice, and righteousness in the earth for/that I delight in these.” It is uncertain whether the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) before the clause “I delight in these things” is parallel to the כִּי introducing the clause “that I, the Lord, act…” or causal giving the grounds for the Lord acting the way he does. In the light of the contrasts in the passage and the emphasis that Jeremiah has placed on obedience to the covenant and ethical conduct in conjunction with real allegiance to the Lord not mere lip service, it is probable that the clauses are parallel. For the use of כִּי to introduce clauses of further definition after a direct object as here see GKC 365 §117.h and see BDB 393 s.v. יָדַע Qal.1.a. For parallels to the idea of Yahweh requiring these characteristics in people see Hos 6:6, Mic 6:8.

[15:17]  ²² tn Heb “because of your hand.”

[23:2]  ²³ tn Heb “about the shepherds who are shepherding my people. ‘You have caused my sheep….’” For the metaphor see the study note on the previous verse.

[23:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who should be shepherding my people: You have scattered my sheep and driven them away and you have not taken care of them. Behold I will visit upon you the evil of your deeds.” “Therefore” announces the judgment which does not come until “Behold.” It is interrupted by the messenger formula and a further indictment. The original has been broken up to conform more to contemporary English style, the metaphors have been interpreted for clarity and the connections between the indictments and the judgments have been carried by “So.”

[23:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:36]  ²⁶ tn Heb “burden of the Lord.”

[23:36]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the burden.”

[23:36]  ²⁸ tn Heb “The burden is [or will be] to a man his word.” There is a good deal of ambiguity regarding how this line is to be rendered. For the major options and the issues involved W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:651-52 should be consulted. Most of them are excluded by the observation that מַשָּׂא probably does not mean “oracle” anywhere in this passage (see note on v. 33 regarding the use of this word). Hence it does not mean “every man’s word becomes his oracle” as in NIV or “for that ‘burden’ [= oracle] is what he entrusts to the man of his word” (W. McKane, Jeremiah [ICC], 1:600-601). The latter is also ruled out by the fact that the antecedent of “his” on “his word” is clearly the word “man” in front of it. This would be the only case where the phrase “man of his word” occurs. There is also no textual reason for repointing the noun with the article as the noun with the interrogative to read “For how can his word become a burden to anyone?” There are, of course, other options but this is sufficient to show that the translation has been chosen after looking at other alternatives.

[23:36]  ²⁹ tn Heb “turning.” See BDB 245 s.v. הָפַךְ Qal.1.c and Lev 13:55; Jer 13:33 “changing, altering.”

[23:36]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[23:36]  sn See the study note on 2:19 for the explanation of the significance of this title.

[24:8]  ³¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[24:8]  ³² tn Heb “Like the bad figs which cannot be eaten from badness [= because they are so bad] surely [emphatic כִּי, ki] so I regard Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his officials and the remnant of Jerusalem which remains in this land and those who are living in Egypt.” The sentence has been restructured in the translation to conform more to contemporary English style. For the use of נָתַן (natan) meaning “regard” or “treat like” see BDB 681 s.v. נָתַן 3.c and compare the usage in Ezek 28:6;Gen 42:30.

[29:16]  ³³ tn Heb “But thus says the Lord about.” The words “just listen to what” are supplied in the translation to help show the connection with the preceding.

[29:16]  sn Jeremiah answers their claims that the Lord has raised up prophets to encourage them that their stay will be short by referring to the Lord’s promise that the Lord’s plans are not for restoration but for further destruction.

[29:16]  ³⁴ tn The words “of Jerusalem” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to identify the referent and avoid the possible confusion that “this city” refers to Babylon.

[29:26]  ³⁵ tn Heb “in place of Jehoiada the priest.” The word “the priest” is unnecessary to the English sentence.

[29:26]  ³⁶ tc Heb “The Lord has appointed you priest in place of the priest Jehoiada to be overseer in the house of the Lord for/over.” The translation is based on a reading presupposed by several of the versions. The Hebrew text reads “The Lord has…to be overseers [in] the house of the Lord for/over.” The reading here follows that of the Greek, Syriac, and Latin versions in reading פָּקִיד בְּבֵית (paqid bÿvet) in place of פְּקִדִים בֵּית (pÿqidim bet). There has been a confusion of the ם (mem) and בּ (bet) and a transposition of the י (yod) and ד (dalet).

[29:26]  ³⁷ sn The Hebrew term translated lunatic applies to anyone who exhibits irrational behavior. It was used for example of David who drooled and scratched on the city gate to convince Achish not to arrest him as a politically dangerous threat (1 Sam 21:14). It was often used contemptuously of the prophets by those who wanted to play down the significance of their words (2 Kgs 9:11; Hos 9:7 and here).

[29:26]  ³⁸ tn The verb here is a good example of what IBHS 431 §26.2f calls the estimative-declarative reflexive where a person presents himself in a certain light. For examples of this usage see 2 Sam 13:5; Prov 13:7.

[29:26]  ³⁹ tn See the translator’s note on 20:2 for this word which only occurs here and in 20:2-3.

[29:26]  ⁴⁰ tn This word only occurs here in the Hebrew Bible. All the lexicons are agreed as seeing it referring to a collar placed around the neck. The basis for this definition are the cognate languages (see, e.g., HALOT 958-59 s.v. צִינֹק for the most complete discussion).

[29:28]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying….” The quote, however, is part of the earlier letter.

[29:28]  ⁴² sn See v. 5.

[29:32]  ⁴³ tn Heb “Therefore.”

[29:32]  ⁴⁴ sn Compare the same charge against Hananiah in Jer 28:16 and see the note there. In this case, the false prophesy of Shemaiah is not given but it likely had the same tenor since he wants Jeremiah reprimanded for saying that the exile will be long and the people are to settle down in Babylon.

[32:24]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “Siege ramps have come up to the city to capture it.”

[32:24]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “sword.”

[32:24]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for further explanation.

[32:24]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “And the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it because of the sword, starvation, and disease.” The verb “has been given” is one of those perfects that view the action as good as done (the perfect of certainty or prophetic perfect).

[32:24]  ⁴⁹ tn The word “Lord” is not in the text but is supplied in the translation as a reminder that it is he who is being addressed.

[32:24]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “And what you said has happened and behold you see it.”

[33:13]  ⁵¹ sn Heb “Sheep will again pass under the hands of the counter.” This appears to be a reference to counting the sheep to make sure that none was missing as they returned to the fold. See the same idiom in Lev 27:52 and in the metaphor in Ezek 20:37.

[33:13]  ⁵² sn Compare Jer 32:44.

[38:23]  ⁵³ tn Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[38:23]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “you yourself will not escape from their hand but will be seized by [caught in] the hand of the king of Babylon.” Neither use of “hand” is natural to the English idiom.

[38:23]  ⁵⁵ tc This translation follows the reading of the Greek version and a few Hebrew mss. The majority of the Hebrew mss read “and you will burn down this city.” This reading is accepted by the majority of modern commentaries and English versions. Few of the commentaries, however, bother to explain the fact that the particle אֶת (’et), which normally marks the accusative object, is functioning here as the subject. For this point of grammar see BDB 85 s.v. I אֵת 1.b. Or this may be another case where אֵת introduces a new subject (see BDB 85 s.v. אֵת 3.α and see usage in 27:8; 36:22).

[48:2]  ⁵⁶ sn Heshbon was originally a Moabite city but was captured by Sihon king of Og and made his capital (Num 21:26-30). It was captured from Sihon and originally assigned to the tribe of Reuben (Num 32:37; Josh 13:17). Later it was made a Levitical city and was assigned to the tribe of Gad (Josh 21:39). It formed the northern limits of Moab. It was located about eighteen miles east of the northern tip of the Dead Sea.

[48:2]  ⁵⁷ sn There is a wordplay in Hebrew on the word “Heshbon” and the word “plot” (חָשְׁבוּ, khoshvu).

[48:2]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “In Heshbon they plot evil against her [i.e., Moab].” The “they” is undefined, but it would scarcely be Moabites living in Heshbon. Hence TEV and CEV are probably correct in seeing a reference to the enemy which would imply the conquest of this city which lay on the northern border of Moab.

[48:2]  ⁵⁹ tn The meaning of this line is somewhat uncertain. The translation here follows all the modern English versions and commentaries in reading the place name “Madmen” even though the place is otherwise unknown and the Greek, Syriac, and Latin version all read this word as an emphasizing infinitive absolute of the following verb “will be destroyed,” i.e. דָּמוֹם יִדֹּמּוּ (damom yiddommu). Some see this word as a variant of the name Dimon in Isa 15:9 which in turn is a playful variant of the place name Dibon. There is once again a wordplay on the word “Madmen” and “will be destroyed”: מַדְמֵן (madmen) and יִדֹּמּוּ (yiddommu). For the meaning of the verb = “perish” or “be destroyed” see Jer 8:14; Ps 31:18.

[48:2]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “A sword will follow after you.” The sword is again figurative of destructive forces, here the army of the Babylonians.

[51:58]  ⁶¹ sn See the note at Jer 2:19.

[51:58]  ⁶² tn The text has the plural “walls,” but many Hebrew mss read the singular “wall,” which is also supported by the ancient Greek version. The modifying adjective “thick” is singular as well.

[51:58]  ⁶³ tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following finite verb. Another option is to translate, “will certainly be demolished.”

[51:58]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “for what is empty.”

[51:58]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “and the nations for fire, and they grow weary.”