Jeremiah 15

1 And the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my soul would not be toward this people. Cast them away from my face, and let them depart!

And the Lord said unto me, If Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my favor would [still] not be toward this people: send them away out of my sight, that they may go forth.

2 And if they say to you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: Those who go to death, shall go to death. And those who go to the sword, shall go to the sword, and those go to famine, shall go to famine, and those who go to captivity, shall go to captivity.

And it shall come to pass, if they should say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth, that thou shalt say unto them, Thus hath said the Lord, Such as are destined to death, to death; and such as are destined to the sword, to the sword; and such as are destined to famine, to famine; and such as are destined to captivity, to captivity.

3 And I will visit against them in four ways, says the Lord: by the sword, to kill; and by dogs, to tear apart; and by the birds of the air and by the beasts of the earth, to devour and to scatter.

And I will appoint over them four species, saith the Lord: The sword to slay, and the dogs to drag away, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy.

4 And I will give them over to the fervor of all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, because of all that he did in Jerusalem.

And I will cause them to become a horror unto all the kingdoms of the earth, on account of Menasseh the son of Hezekiah the king of Judah, because of what he did in Jerusalem.

5 For who will take pity on you, O Jerusalem? Or who will feel sorrow for you? Or who will go to prayer for the sake of your peace?

For who will have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who will condole with thee? or who will go aside to ask after thy welfare?

6 You have abandoned me, says the Lord. You have gone backwards. And so, I will extend my hand over you, and I will destroy you. I have labored to plead with you.

Thou hast indeed forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art gone backward; therefore do I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee: I am weary with repenting.

7 And I will scatter them with a winnowing fan at the gates of the land. I have killed and dispersed my people, and yet they have not turned back from their ways.

And I winnow them with a fan in the gates of the land: I make childless, I annihilate my people, [since] from their ways they have not turned away.

8 Their widows have been multiplied by me, more so than the sand of the sea. I have led them against the mother of a youth like an attacker at midday. I have sent a terror suddenly against the cities.

Their widows are more numerous before me than the sand of the seas: I bring unto them, over the mothers of the young men, a waster at noonday; I cause to fall upon her suddenly the enemy with [his] terrors.

9 She who gave birth to seven has become weak. Her life has faded away. Her sun has set while it was still daytime. She has been confounded and shamed. And the remainder of them I will give over to the sword in the sight of their enemies, says the Lord.”

She that had born seven children fadeth away; she breatheth out her soul, her sun is set while it is yet day; she is made ashamed and put to the blush: —and their residue will I give up to the sword before their enemies, saith the Lord.

10 “O my mother, woe to me! Why did you conceive me, a man of strife, a man of discord to all the earth? I have not lent money at interest, nor has anyone lent money at interest to me. Yet everyone is cursing me.”

Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast born me, a man of contention and a man of strife to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have men lent to me: [yet] every one of them curseth me.

11 The Lord says: “Certainly, it will be well with your remnant. Certainly, I will run to meet you, in the time of affliction and in the time of tribulation, against the enemy.

The Lord said, Truly I will release thee for [thy] good; truly I will cause the enemy to meet thee in the time of distress and in the time of affliction.

12 But how can iron be joined with the iron from the north or with brass?

Can iron break in pieces the northern iron and copper?

13 Your riches and your treasures I will give over to be freely despoiled, because of all your sins, even throughout all your borders.

Thy wealth and thy treasures will I give up as spoil without price, and this for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.

14 And I will lead in your enemies from a land that you do not know. For a fire has been kindled in my fury; it will burn upon you.”

And I will cause them to pass over with thy enemies into a land which thou knowest not; for a fire is kindled in my anger, over you shall it burn.

15 “You know me, O Lord. Remember me, and visit me, and watch over me, because of those who persecute me. In your patience, do not choose to let me endure. You know I have suffered reproach because of you.

Thou well knowest it, O Lord! remember me and think of me, and avenge me on my persecutors; not according to thy long-suffering act thou for me: know, that for thy sake I have borne shame.

16 I discovered your words and I consumed them. And your word became to me as the gladness and joy of my heart. For your name has been invoked over me, O Lord, the God of hosts.

When thy words were made manifest to me, then I greedily received them; and thy word became unto me the gladness and joy of my heart; for thy name is called upon me, O Lord of hosts.

17 I did not sit in the company of mockers, nor did I glorify myself before the presence of your hand. I sat alone, because you filled me with threats.

I sat not in the assembly of the mirthful, and was rejoiced; because of thy inspiration I sat solitary; for thou hadst filled me with indignation.

18 Why has my sorrow become never-ending, and why has my wound become so dire that it refuses to be cured? It has become for me like the deception of untrustworthy waters.”

Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable? it refuseth to be healed; it is truly become unto me as a deceptive spring, as waters that are not reliable.

19 Because of this, thus says the Lord: “If you will be converted, I will convert you. And you will stand before my face. And you will separate what is precious from what is vile. You will be my mouthpiece. They will be converted to you, but you will not be converted to them.

Therefore thus hath said the Lord, If thou return, and I bring thee back again, then shalt thou stand before me; and if thou bring forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: these shall return unto thee; but thou shalt not return unto them.

20 And I will present you to this people as a strong wall of brass. And they will fight against you, and they will not prevail. For I am with you, so as to save you and to rescue you, says the Lord.

And I will make thee unto this people as a fortified brazen wall; and they will fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord.

21 And I will free you from hand of those who are most wicked, and I will redeem you from the hand of the powerful.”

And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the grasp of the tyrants.