Yeremia 8:6

8:6 I have listened to them very carefully, ¹ 

but they do not speak honestly.

None of them regrets the evil he has done.

None of them says, “I have done wrong!” ² 

All of them persist in their own wayward course ³ 

like a horse charging recklessly into battle.

Yeremia 25:3

25:3 “For the last twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was ruling in Judah ⁴  until now, the Lord has been speaking to me. I told you over and over again ⁵  what he said. ⁶  But you would not listen.

[8:6]  ¹ tn Heb “I have paid attention and I have listened.” This is another case of two concepts being joined by “and” where one expresses the main idea and the other acts as an adverbial or adjectival modifier (a figure called hendiadys).

[8:6]  ² tn Heb “What have I done?” The addition of the word “wrong” is implicit in the context and is supplied in the translation for clarity. The rhetorical question does not function as a denial of wrongdoing, but rather as contrite shock at one’s own wrongdoing. It is translated as a declaration for the sake of clarity.

[8:6]  ³ tn Heb “each one of them turns aside into their own running course.”

[8:6]  sn The wordplay begun in v. 4 is continued here. The word translated “turns aside” in the literal translation and “wayward” in the translation is from the same root as “go the wrong way,” “turn around,” “turn away from me,” “apostasy,” “turn back to me.” What God hoped for were confessions of repentance and change of behavior; what he got was denial of wrongdoing and continued turning away from him.

[25:3]  ⁴ sn The year referred to would be 627 b.c. The same year is referred to in 1:2 in reference to his call to be a prophet.

[25:3]  ⁵ tn For the idiom involved here see the notes at 7:13 and 11:7.

[25:3]  ⁶ tn The words “what he said” are not in the text but are implicit. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.