Jeremiah 15
1 Then said Jehovah to me: Though Moses and Samuel should stand before me, Yet would I not be reconciled to this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go forth!
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 And if they say to thee, “Whither shall we go forth?” Then say thou to them, Thus saith Jehovah: They that are for the pestilence, to the pestilence, And they that are for the sword, to the sword. And they that are for famine, to famine, And they that are for 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 commission against them four woes, saith Jehovah! The sword to slay, And the dogs to drag about, And the birds of heaven, and the beasts of the earth, To devour and destroy.
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 cause them to be harassed in all the kingdoms of the earth, On account of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, On account of all which he 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 For who will have pity on thee, O Jerusalem? Or who condole with thee? Or who turn aside to ask thee of thy welfare?
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 Thou hast forsaken me, saith Jehovah; Thou hast gone backward; Therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary of relenting.
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 them with a winnowing-fan through the gates of the land; I will bereave them of their sons; I will destroy my people, Since they return not from their 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 Their widows shall be more numerous than the sand of the sea; Against the mother of the young men do I bring a spoiler at noonday; Suddenly will I bring alarm and terrors upon them.
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 She, that hath borne seven, languisheth; She is ready to expire; Her sun goeth down while it is yet day; She is ashamed and confounded. Their remnant will I also give to the sword Before their enemies, saith Jehovah.
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 Alas for me, my mother, that thou hast borne me, To live in strife and contention with all the land! I have neither borrowed nor lent money, Yet doth every one curse 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 Jehovah said: Surely I will deliver and prosper thee, Surely, in the time of trouble and in the time of distress, Will I cause the adversary to be a suppliant to thee.
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 Who is able to break iron, Iron from the North, and brass?
[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 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give for spoil, without price, On account of all thy sins in all thy borders.
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 I will cause them to pass with thy enemies into a land which thou knowest not; For a fire is kindled in my anger, which shall burn against you.
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 Thou, O Jehovah, knowest all my concerns! O remember me, and have regard to me, And revenge me of my persecutors! Do not, through thy long-suffering, take me away! Consider that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke!
[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 As soon as I found thy words, I devoured them; For thy words were the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by thy name, O Jehovah, God of hosts!
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 have not sat in the assembly of them that made merry, nor rejoiced; On account of thy hand I have sat alone; For thou hast filled me with indignation.
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 is my pain perpetual, And my wound mortal, refusing to be healed? Thou hast been to me like a deceitful stream; Like waters that fail.
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 Then answered Jehovah thus: If thou wilt return, then will I restore thee, and thou shalt stand before me; And if thou wilt separate the precious from the vile, Thou shalt be as my mouth. They shall turn to thee, And thou shalt not turn to 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 I will make thee against this people a strong wall of brass; When they war against thee, they shall not prevail against thee, For I will be with thee to save thee, And to deliver thee, saith Jehovah.
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 rescue thee from the hand of the wicked, And I will redeem thee from the grasp of the violent.
[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.”
