Yeremia 5:15-17

5:15 The Lord says, ¹  “Listen, ²  nation of Israel! ³ 

I am about to bring a nation from far away to attack you.

It will be a nation that was founded long ago

and has lasted for a long time.

It will be a nation whose language you will not know.

Its people will speak words that you will not be able to understand.

5:16 All of its soldiers are strong and mighty. ⁴ 

Their arrows will send you to your grave. ⁵ 

5:17 They will eat up your crops and your food.

They will kill off ⁶  your sons and your daughters.

They will eat up your sheep and your cattle.

They will destroy your vines and your fig trees. ⁷ 

Their weapons will batter down ⁸ 

the fortified cities you trust in.

[5:15]  ¹ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[5:15]  ² tn Heb “Behold!”

[5:15]  ³ tn Heb “house of Israel.”

[5:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “All of them are mighty warriors.”

[5:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “his quiver [is] an open grave.” The order of the lines has been reversed to make the transition from “nation” to “their arrows” easier.

[5:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “eat up.”

[5:17]  ⁷ tn Or “eat up your grapes and figs”; Heb “eat up your vines and your fig trees.”

[5:17]  sn It was typical for an army in time of war in the ancient Near East not only to eat up the crops but to destroy the means of further production.

[5:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “They will beat down with the sword.” The term “sword” is a figure of speech (synecdoche) for military weapons in general. Siege ramps, not swords, beat down city walls; swords kill people, not city walls.