Jeremiah 15

1 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!’

Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go.

2 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].

If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword; those destined for famine, to famine; and those destined for captivity, to captivity.’

3 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].

I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.

4 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.

I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.

5 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).

Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem? Who will mourn for you? Who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?

6 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.

You have forsaken Me, declares the LORD. You have turned your back. So I will stretch out My hand against you and I will destroy you; I am weary of showing compassion.

7 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.

I will scatter them with a winnowing fork at the gates of the land. I will bereave and destroy My people who have not turned from their ways.

8 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.

I will make their widows more numerous than the sand of the sea. I will bring a destroyer at noon against the mothers of young men. I will suddenly bring upon them anguish and dismay.

9 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.’”

The mother of seven will grow faint; she will breathe her last breath. Her sun will set while it is still day; she will be disgraced and humiliated. And the rest I will put to the sword in the presence of their enemies,”

10 [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.”

Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and conflict in all the land. I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.

11 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].”

The LORD said: “Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will intercede with your enemy in your time of trouble, in your time of distress.

12 [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.

Can anyone smash iron— iron from the north—or bronze?

13 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.

Your wealth and your treasures I will give up as plunder, without charge for all your sins within all your borders.

14 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.”

Then I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for My anger will kindle a fire that will burn against you.”

15 [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.

You understand, O LORD; remember me and attend to me. Avenge me against my persecutors. In Your patience, do not take me away. Know that I endure reproach for Your honor.

16 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]

Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became my joy and my heart’s delight. For I bear Your name, O LORD God of Hosts.

17 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].

I never sat with the band of revelers, nor did I celebrate with them. Because Your hand was on me, I sat alone, for You have filled me with indignation.

18 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.”

Why is my pain unending, and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? You have indeed become like a mirage to me— water that is not there.

19 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.

Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak words that are noble instead of worthless, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must turn to you, but you must not turn to them.

20 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.

Then I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to save and deliver you, declares the LORD.

21 [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.”

I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”