Jeremia 15 | New International Reader’s Version

1 Then the LORD said to me, ‘Suppose Moses and Samuel were standing in front of me. Even then my heart would not feel sorry for these people. Send them away from me! Let them go! 2 Suppose these people ask you, “Where should we go?” Then tell them, “The LORD says, ‘ “ ‘Those I have appointed to die will die. Those I have appointed to be killed by swords will be killed by swords. Those I have appointed to die of hunger will die of hunger. Those I have appointed to be taken away as prisoners will be taken away.’ ” 3 ‘I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,’ announces the LORD. ‘Swords will kill them. Dogs will drag them away. Birds will eat them up. And wild animals will destroy them. 4 I will make all the kingdoms on earth hate them. That will happen because of what Manasseh did in Jerusalem. He was king of Judah and the son of Hezekiah. 5 ‘Jerusalem, who will have pity on you? Who will mourn for you? Who will stop to ask how you are doing? 6 You have said no to me,’ announces the LORD. ‘You keep on turning away from me. So I will reach out and destroy you. I am tired of showing you pity. 7 I will stand at the city gates of the land. I will separate the straw from the grain. I will destroy my people. I will bring great sorrow on them. They have not changed their ways. 8 I will increase the number of their widows. There will be more of them than the grains of sand on the seashore. At noon I will bring a destroyer against the mothers of the young men among my people. All at once I will bring down on them great suffering and terror. 9 Mothers who have many children will grow weak. They will take their last breath. The sun will set on them while it is still day. They will be dishonoured and put to shame. All those who are left alive I will kill by swords. I will have their enemies do this,’ announces the LORD. 10 My mother, I wish I had never been born! The whole land opposes me. They fight against me. I haven’t made loans to anyone. And I haven’t borrowed anything. But everyone curses me anyway. 11 The LORD said, ‘Jeremiah, I will keep you safe for a good purpose. I will make your enemies ask you to pray for them. They will make their appeal to you when they are in great trouble. 12 ‘People of Judah, the armies of Babylon will come from the north. They are as strong as iron and bronze. Can anyone break their power? 13 I will give away your wealth and your treasures. Your enemies will carry off everything. And they will not pay anything for it. That will happen because you have sinned so much. You have done it throughout your country. 14 I will make you slaves to your enemies. You will serve them in a land you have not known about before. My anger will start a fire that will burn you up.’ 15 LORD, you understand how much I’m suffering. Show concern for me. Take care of me. Pay back those who are trying to harm me. You are patient. Don’t take my life away from me. Think about how much shame I suffer because of you. 16 When I received your words, I ate them. They filled me with joy. My heart took delight in them. LORD God who rules over all, I belong to you. 17 I never sat around with those who go to wild parties. I never had a good time with them. I sat alone because you had put your powerful hand on me. Your anger against sin was burning inside me. 18 Why does my pain never end? Why is my wound so deep? Why can’t I ever get well? To me you are like a stream that runs dry. You are like a spring that doesn’t have any water. 19 So the LORD says to Jeremiah, ‘If you turn away from your sins, I will heal you. And then you will be able to serve me. Speak words that are worthy, not worthless. Then you will be speaking for me. Let these people turn to you. But you must not turn to them. 20 I will make you like a wall to them. I will make you like a strong bronze wall. The people will fight against you. But they will not overcome you. I am with you. I will save you,’ announces the LORD. 21 ‘I will save you from the hands of evil people. I will set you free from those who treat you badly.’

English Standard Version

The Lord Will Not Relent

1 Then the Lord said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! 2 And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence, and those who are for the sword, to the sword; those who are for famine, to famine, and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’ 3 I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem. 5 “Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem, or who will grieve for you? Who will turn aside to ask about your welfare? 6 You have rejected me, declares the Lord; you keep going backward, so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you— I am weary of relenting. 7 I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork in the gates of the land; I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people; they did not turn from their ways. 8 I have made their widows more in number than the sand of the seas; I have brought against the mothers of young men a destroyer at noonday; I have made anguish and terror fall upon them suddenly. 9 She who bore seven has grown feeble; she has fainted away; her sun went down while it was yet day; she has been shamed and disgraced. And the rest of them I will give to the sword before their enemies, declares the Lord.”

Jeremiah’s Complaint

10 Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me. 11 The Lord said, “Have I not* set you free for their good? Have I not pleaded for you before the enemy in the time of trouble and in the time of distress? 12 Can one break iron, iron from the north, and bronze? 13 “Your wealth and your treasures I will give as spoil, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. 14 I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.” 15 O Lord, you know; remember me and visit me, and take vengeance for me on my persecutors. In your forbearance take me not away; know that for your sake I bear reproach. 16 Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts. 17 I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation. 18 Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail? 19 Therefore thus says the Lord: “If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them. 20 And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord. 21 I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”

Jeremia 15 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

The Lord Will Not Relent

Jeremiah’s Complaint