Jeremiah 15
Judgment Must Come
1 Then the Lord said to me, “Even aif bMoses and cSamuel were to dstand before Me, My ▼▼Lit soul
heart would not be ▼▼Lit toward
with this people. gSend them away from My presence and have them go! 2And it shall be that when they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you are to tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Those destined hfor death, to death;
And those destined for the sword, to the sword;
And those destined for famine, to famine;
And those destined for captivity, to captivity.”’
3 And I will iappoint over them four kinds of doom,” declares the Lord: “the sword to kill, the jdogs to drag away, and the kbirds of the sky and the animals of the earth to devour and destroy. 4I will lmake them an object of terror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of mManasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.
5 “Indeed, who will have npity on you, Jerusalem,
Or who will omourn for you,
Or who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?
6 “You who have pforsaken Me,” declares the Lord,
“You keep qgoing backward.
So I will rstretch out My hand against you and destroy you;
I am stired of relenting!
7 “I will twinnow them with a winnowing fork
At the gates of the land;
I will ubereave them of children, I will destroy My people;
vThey did not ▼
▼Lit turn back from
repent of their ways. 8 “Their xwidows will be more numerous before Me
Than the sand of the seas;
I will bring against them, against the mother of a young man,
A ydestroyer at noon;
I will suddenly bring down on her
Shock and horror.
9 “She who zgave birth to seven sons withers away;
▼
▼Or She has breathed out her soul
Her breathing is labored. Her absun has set while it was still day;
She has been acshamed and humiliated.
So I will adturn over their survivors to the sword
Before their enemies,” declares the Lord.
10 aeWoe to me, my mother, that you have given birth to me
As a afman of strife and a man of contention to all the land!
I have not aglent, nor have people lent money to me,
Yet everyone curses me.
11 The Lord said, “I will certainly ahset you free for purposes of good;
I will certainly make the aienemy plead with you
In a time of disaster and a time of distress.
12 “Can anyone smash iron,
ajIron from the north, or bronze?
13 “I will give your akwealth and your treasures
As plunder alwithout cost,
For all your sins
And within all your borders.
14 “Then I will make your enemies bring your possessions
Into a amland that you do not know;
For a anfire has been kindled in My anger,
And it will burn upon you.”
Jeremiah’s Prayer and God’s Answer
15 aoYou know, Lord;
Remember me, take notice of me,
And aptake vengeance for me on my persecutors.
Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away;
Know that aqfor Your sake I endure reproach.
16 Your words were found and I arate them,
And Your aswords became a joy to me and the delight of my heart;
For I have been atcalled by Your name,
Lord God of armies.
17 I audid not sit in a circle of revelers and celebrate.
Because of Your hand upon me I sat avalone,
For You awfilled me with indignation.
18 Why has my pain been endless
And my axwound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Will You indeed be to me aylike a deceptive stream
With water that is unreliable?
19 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
“ azIf you return, then I will restore you--
baYou will stand before Me;
And bbif you extract the precious from the worthless,
You will become ▼
▼Lit as My mouth
My spokesman. They, for their part, may turn to you,
But as for you, you are not to turn to them.
20 “Then I will bdmake you to this people
A fortified wall of bronze;
And though they fight against you,
They will not prevail over you;
For beI am with you to save you
And rescue you,” declares the Lord.
21 “So I will bfrescue you from the hand of the wicked,
And I will bgredeem you from the ▼
▼Lit palm
grasp of the violent.”
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