Jeremiah 15

1 Then Jehovah said to me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not be toward this people. Cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.

2 And it shall come to pass, when they say to thee, Where shall we go forth? Then thou shall tell them, Thus says Jehovah: Such as are for death, to death, and such as are for the sword, to the sword, and such as are for the famine, to the famine, and such as are for captivity, to captivity.

3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, says Jehovah: the sword to kill, and the dogs to tear, and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy.

4 And I will cause them to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.

5 For who will have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? Or who will bemoan thee? Or who will turn aside to ask of thy welfare?

6 Thou have rejected me, says Jehovah. Thou have gone backward. Therefore I have stretched out my hand against thee, and destroyed thee. I am weary with relenting.

7 And I have winnowed them with a fan in the gates of the land. I have bereaved them of sons. I have destroyed my people. They did not return from their ways.

8 Their widows have increased to me above the sand of the seas. I have brought upon them, against the mother of the young men, a destroyer at noonday. I have caused anguish and terrors to fall upon her suddenly.

9 She who has borne seven, languishes. She has given up the spirit. Her sun has gone down while it was yet day. She has been put to shame and confounded. And the residue of them I will deliver to the sword before their enemies, says Jehovah.

10 Woe is me, my mother, that thou have bore me, a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have not lent, nor have men lent to me, yet every one of them curses me.

11 Jehovah said, Truly I will strengthen thee for good. Truly I will cause the enemy to make supplication to thee in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.

12 Can a man break iron, even iron from the north, and brass?

13 Thy substance and thy treasures I will give for a spoil without price. And that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.

14 And I will make them to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou know not. For a fire is kindled in my anger, which shall burn upon you.

15 O Jehovah, thou know. Remember me, and visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors. Take me not away in thy longsuffering. Know that for thy sake I have suffered reproach.

16 Thy words were found, and I ate them. And thy words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart. For I am called by thy name, O Jehovah, God of hosts.

17 I did not sit in the assembly of those who make merry, nor did I rejoice. I sat alone because of thy hand, for thou have filled me with indignation.

18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? Will thou indeed be to me as a deceitful brook, as waters that fail?

19 Therefore thus says Jehovah: If thou return, then I will bring thee again that thou may stand before me. And if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shall be as my mouth. They shall return to thee, but thou shall not return to them.

20 And I will make thee to this people a fortified brazen wall. And they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee. For I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, says Jehovah.

21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.