The Lord Will Not Relent
1 Then theLordsaid to me,“EvenifMoses andSamuel stood before Me, My mindwouldnotbefavorable toward this people. Castthemout of My sight, and let them go forth.
2 And it shall be, if they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you shall tell them, ‘Thus says theLord:
# “Such asarefor death, to death;
And such asarefor the sword, to the sword;
And such asarefor the famine, to the famine;
# And such asarefor thecaptivity, to the captivity.” ’
3 “And I willappoint over them four formsofdestruction,” says theLord: “the sword to slay, the dogs to drag,the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.
4 I will hand them over totrouble, to all kingdoms of the earth, because ofManasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.
5 “For who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem?
Or who will bemoan you?
Or who will turn aside to ask how you are doing?
6 You have forsaken Me,” says theLord,
# “You havegone backward.
Therefore I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you;
# I am weary of relenting!
7 And I will winnow them with a winnowing fan in the gates of the land;
# I willbereavethemof children;
I will destroy My people,
# Sincetheydo not return from their ways.
8 Their widows will be increased to Me more than the sand of the seas;
I will bring against them,
Against the mother of the young men,
A plunderer at noonday;
# I will cause anguish and terror to fall on themsuddenly.
9 “Shelanguishes who has borne seven;
She has breathed her last;
# Her sun has gone down
Whileitwasyet day;
She has been ashamed and confounded.
And the remnant of them I will deliver to the sword
Before their enemies,” says theLord.
Jeremiah’s Dejection
10 Woe is me, my mother,
That you have borne me,
A man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth!
I have neither lent for interest,
Nor have men lent to me for interest.
Every one of them curses me.
11 TheLordsaid:
“Surely it will be well with your remnant;
# Surely I will causethe enemy to intercede with you
In the time of adversity and in the time of affliction.
12 Can anyone break iron,
The northern iron and the bronze?
13 Your wealth and your treasures
# I will give asplunder without price,
Because of all your sins,
Throughout your territories.
14 And I will makeyoucross over with your enemies
# Into a landwhichyou do not know;
# For afire is kindled in My anger,
Whichshall burn upon you.”
15 OLord,You know;
Remember me and visit me,
# Andtake vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In Your enduring patience, do not take me away.
# Know thatfor Your sake I have suffered rebuke.
16 Your words were found, and Iate them,
# AndYour word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;
For I am called by Your name,
OLordGod of hosts.
17 I did not sit in the assembly of the mockers,
Nor did I rejoice;
I sat alone because of Your hand,
For You have filled me with indignation.
18 Why is mypain perpetual
And my wound incurable,
Whichrefuses to be healed?
# Will You surely be to melike an unreliable stream,
Aswatersthatfail?
The Lord Reassures Jeremiah
19 Therefore thus says theLord:
# “If you return,
Then I will bring you back;
# You shallstand before Me;
# If youtake out the precious from the vile,
You shall be as My mouth.
Let them return to you,
But you must not return to them.
20 And I will make you to this people a fortified bronzewall;
And they will fight against you,
# Butthey shall not prevail against you;
For Iamwith you to save you
And deliver you,” says theLord.
21 “I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,
And I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible.”