< Jeremiah 15 >

1 The Lord told me: Even if Moses and Samuel were standing before me pleading with me on behalf of these people, I wouldn't feel sorry for them. Send them away from me. Have them leave.
Then Yahweh said [this] to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel could [come back from their graves and] and stand in front of me [and plead with me for these Israeli people], I would not act mercifully [IDM] toward these people. [I would tell you], ‘Send them away from me. Cause them to leave me!’
2 If they ask you, “Where shall we go?” tell them that this is what the Lord says: Those to be killed by the plague, to the plague; those to be killed by the sword, to the sword; those to be killed by famine, to famine; and those to be killed in captivity, to captivity.
And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’, tell them, ‘This is what Yahweh says: The ones that I say must die, will die: The ones that I say must die in wars [MTY], will die in wars. The ones that I say must die from hunger, will die from hunger. The ones that I say must be captured [and taken to other countries], will be captured [and taken to other countries].
3 I will put four kinds of destroyers in charge of them, declares the Lord: swords to kill, dogs to drag their bodies away, and the birds of prey and wild animals to eat them and destroy them.
I will send four things that will get rid of them: I will send [enemy soldiers using] swords to kill them. I will send wild dogs to drag away [their corpses]. I will send vultures to eat [their corpses]. And I will send [other] wild animals to eat what remains [of their corpses].
4 I will make all the kingdoms of the world horrified by them, because of the evil things Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, king of Judah did in Jerusalem.
Because of [the wicked things that] King Manasseh did in Jerusalem, I will cause [people in] all the kingdoms of the earth to be horrified about [what will happen in Judah to] my people.
5 Who will be sorry for you, Jerusalem? Who will mourn for you? Who will stop to ask you how you are?
You [people of], no one will [RHQ] feel sorry for you. No one will [RHQ] weep/cry for you. No one will [RHQ] ask (how you are/if you are well).
6 You have deserted me, declares the Lord. You have turned your back on me. So I will take action against you and destroy you; I am tired of showing you mercy.
You people have abandoned me; you have continued to walk away [from me] [DOU]. So, I will lift up my fist to smash you; I will not act mercifully toward you any longer.
7 I will scatter you with a winnowing fork from every town in the country. I will destroy my people and take away their children because they refuse to give up their evil ways.
At the gates of your cities, I will [scatter you like a farmer scatters the chaff from his grain by] (winnowing it/throwing it up to allow the wind to blow the chaff away) [MET]. You, my people, have refused to turn away from your evil behavior. [So], I will get rid of you, and I will even cause your children to be killed.
8 There will be more widows than the sand of the sea. I will bring a destroyer at noon and mothers will lose their young sons. They will suddenly experience agony and shock.
I will cause there to be more widows [in Judah] than [there are grains of] sand on the seashore [HYP]. At noontime, [when people will not be expecting it to happen], I will cause [an enemy army] to attack you, an army that will destroy your young men and cause their mothers to weep. I will cause you to suddenly experience great suffering/pain and become very terrified.
9 A mother of seven children will collapse; she will gasp for breath. Her sun will set while it's still daytime; she will be ashamed and humiliated. I will let the enemies kill the rest of them, declares the Lord.
A woman who has seven children will become faint and (gasp for breath/be hardly able to breathe); [it will be as though] daylight will become darkness for her, [because most of] her children will be dead, and she will be disgraced and humiliated [DOU]. And her children who are still alive, I will enable your enemies to kill them. [That will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it.’”
10 How sad I am, my mother, that you gave birth to me! I'm a victim of argument and conflict wherever I go in the country. I have never lent anyone anything, or borrowed anything, but still everyone curses me.
[I said to] my mother, “I am very sad; I wish that you had not given birth to me; everyone in this land opposes me and quarrels with me. I am not a person who lends [money to people and threatens to sue/harm them if they do not pay me back when they should], and I am not a person who borrows [money from others and then refuses to pay it back], but everyone [HYP] curses me.”
11 But the Lord told me: Don't worry, I'm going to take away your problems so you can do good. I will make your enemies plead with you whenever they're in trouble or suffering.
But Yahweh replied to me, “[Jeremiah], I will take care of you. And at times when your enemies have troubles and disasters, they will [come to you and] plead for you [to help them].”
12 Can anyone break iron, iron from the north, or bronze?
[Yahweh also told me to say to the people] of Judah, “Your enemies, who are [as strong as] iron or bronze, [will attack you] from the north; no one will be able to stop them.
13 I will give away your wealth and valuable possessions for free. They will become plunder for your enemies because of all the sins you committed throughout your country.
I will give all the valuable possessions [of the people of Judah] to their enemies, without them paying for it. Their valuable possessions will be the payment/reward [that I will give them] because of all the sins that you have committed throughout your country.
14 Then I will have your enemies make you their slaves in an unfamiliar country, because I will so angry it will be like lighting a fire that will burn you up.
I will tell your enemies to force you to become their prisoners, and to take you to other lands that you do not [even] know about, and force you to become their slaves. [That will happen] because I am extremely angry [with you]; my being angry is [like] [SIM] a fire that will burn forever.”
15 You know what's happening to me, Lord. Please remember me and look after me. Punish my persecutors! Please be patient—don't let me die! You know I put up with criticism because I want to honor you.
[Then I said], “Yahweh, you know [what is happening to me]. [Please] come and (help me/take care of me). Punish those who are (persecuting me/causing me to suffer). [Please] do not continue to be patient with them and do not allow me to die now. It is (for your sake/because I serve you) that I am suffering.
16 When I received your messages, I ate them up! What you said made me really happy—I was delighted. I belong to you, Lord God Almighty!
Yahweh my God, you are the Commander of the armies of angels; and when you spoke to me, I was delighted with your message; it caused me to be joyful, and I eagerly accepted [MET] what you said because I belong to you. [IDM, MTY]
17 I didn't join in with a bunch of jokers as they had fun. I stayed by myself because you have called me, and you have filled me with outrage.
When the people were carousing together, I never joined them; I sat alone, because you [MTY] are the one who controls what I do. I was very angry [with those people because of their sins].
18 Why doesn't my pain ever stop? Why is my wound incurable? Why can't it be healed? You've really become like a seasonal stream to me, an unreliable source of water.
So, (why do you [allow] me to continue to suffer?/I do not understand why you allow me to continue to suffer.) [RHQ] It seems that [RHQ] my wounds cannot be healed. [Sometimes you help me, sometimes you do not help me]. It seems that you are as undependable as a brook that has water in it only during certain seasons; you are like a spring that has dried up.”
19 So this is what the Lord says: If you come back to me, I will take you back and you will serve me again. If what you talk about are worthwhile subjects and not nonsense, you will be my spokesman, Jeremiah. They must be the ones who follow you; you must not follow them.
Then Yahweh [replied], “If you begin again to [trust in] me, I will restore you, in order that you can continue to serve me. If you proclaim good/valuable messages and not worthless ones, you will continue to be the one who speaks what I tell you to say. You must cause the people to pay attention to what you say; you must not pay attention to what they say.
20 Then I will make you a wall to these people, a strong wall of bronze. They will fight against you but they won't defeat you. I am with you to save you and rescue you, declares the Lord.
They will fight against you, but I will protect you, like [SIM] people are protected from their enemies by a bronze wall. They will not defeat you, because I will be with you, and I will protect and rescue [DOU] you.
21 I will liberate you from the power of the wicked, and free you from clutches of the cruel.
[Truly], I will keep you safe from those wicked people, I will rescue you when you are seized by cruel people. [That will happen because I], Yahweh, have said it.”

< Jeremiah 15 >