The Books of Jeremiah and Lamentations E-Book

Brian Simmons

• Herausgeber: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: The Passion Translation
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Seitenzahl: 401

Beschreibung

The books of Jeremiah and Lamentations chronicle the tragic fall of Jerusalem. God spoke through Jeremiah to warn his people of judgment for their sins, urge them to return to his heart, and promise restoration. The book of Jeremiah shares a detailed, personal narrative of Judah's capture and exile. Jeremiah's heart broke for his people as he prophesied and suffered alongside them, but his tearful warnings of judgment are pierced by soaring promises of a new heart and a beautiful future. The book of Lamentations is the deeply poetic cry of the Weeping Prophet after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. It provides a prayerful and liturgical framework to mourn loss, voice grief, and confess sin while still hoping in God's ever-present mercy and forgiveness. These timeless prophetic truths balance warning with hope, guiding us in repentance and grief while renewing our confidence in YAHWEH's endless love. "I will make an everlasting covenant with them, and I will never stop doing good things for them." Jeremiah 32:40  

Leseprobe

The Passion Translation®

Jeremiah and Lamentations: The Promise-Keeping God

Published by BroadStreet Publishing® Group, LLC

BroadStreetPublishing.com

ThePassionTranslation.com

The Passion Translation is a registered trademark of Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc.

Copyright © 2023 Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except as noted below, without permission in writing from the publisher.

The text from Jeremiah and Lamentations: The Promise-Keeping God may be quoted in any form (written, visual, electronic, or audio), up to and inclusive of 40 verses or less, without written permission from the publisher, provided that the verses quoted do not amount to a complete chapter of the Bible, nor do verses quoted account for 20 percent or more of the total text of the work in which they are quoted, and the verses are not being quoted in a commentary or other biblical reference work. When quoted, one of the following credit lines must appear on the copyright page of the work:

Scripture quotations marked TPT are from The Passion Translation®, Jeremiah and Lamentations: The Promise-Keeping God. Copyright © 2023 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ThePassionTranslation.com.

All Scripture quotations are from The Passion Translation®, Jeremiah and Lamentations: The Promise-Keeping God. Copyright © 2023 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ThePassionTranslation.com.

When quotations from The Passion Translation (TPT) are used in non-saleable media, such as church bulletins, sermons, newsletters, or projected in worship settings, a complete copyright notice is not required, but the initials TPT must appear at the end of each quotation.

Quotations in excess of these guidelines or other permission requests must be approved in writing by BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC. Please send requests through the contact form at ThePassionTranslation.com/permissions.

For information about bulk sales or customized editions of The Passion Translation, please contact [email protected].

The publisher and TPT team have worked diligently and prayerfully to present this version of The Passion Translation Bible with excellence and accuracy. If you find a mistake in the Bible text or footnotes, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

9781424567577 (paperback)

9781424567584 (ebook)

Printed in China

23 24 25 26 27 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

A Note to Readers

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Your Personal Invitation to Follow Jesus

About the Translator

A NOTE TO READERS

It would be impossible to calculate how many lives have been changed forever by the power of the Bible, the living Word of God! My own life was transformed because I believed the message contained in Scripture about Jesus, the Savior.

To hold the Bible dear to your heart is the sacred obsession of every true follower of Jesus. Yet to go even further and truly understand the Bible is how we gain light and truth to live by. Did you catch the word understand? People everywhere say the same thing: “I want to understand God’s Word, not just read it.”

Thankfully, as English speakers, we have a plethora of Bible translations, commentaries, study guides, devotionals, churches, and Bible teachers to assist us. Our hearts crave to know God—not just to know about him, but to know him as intimately as we possibly can in this life. This is what makes Bible translations so valuable, because each one will hopefully lead us into new discoveries of God’s character. I believe God is committed to giving us truth in a package we can understand and apply, so I thank God for every translation of God’s Word that we have.

God’s Word does not change, but over time languages definitely do, thus the need for updated and revised translations of the Bible. Translations give us the words God spoke through his servants, but words can be poor containers for revelation because they leak! Meaning is influenced by culture, background, and many other details. Just imagine how differently the Hebrew authors of the Old Testament saw the world three thousand years ago from the way we see it today!

Even within one language and culture, meanings of words change from one generation to the next. For example, many contemporary Bible readers would be quite surprised to find that unicorns are mentioned nine times in the King James Version (KJV). Here’s one instance in Isaiah 34:7: “And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.” This isn’t a result of poor translation, but rather an example of how our culture, language, and understanding of the world has shifted over the past few centuries. So, it is important that we have a modern English text of the Bible that releases revelation and truth into our hearts. The Passion Translation (TPT) is committed to bringing forth the potency of God’s Word in relevant, contemporary vocabulary that doesn’t distract from its meaning or distort it in any way. So many people have told us that they are falling in love with the Bible again as they read TPT.

We often hear the statement, “I just want a word-forword translation that doesn’t mess it up or insert a bias.” That’s a noble desire. But a word-for-word translation would be nearly unreadable. It is simply impossible to translate one Hebrew word for one English word. Hebrew is built from triliteral consonant roots. Biblical Hebrew had no vowels or punctuation. And Koine Greek, although wonderfully articulate, cannot always be conveyed in English by a word-for-word translation. For example, a literal word-for-word translation of the Greek in Matthew 1:18 would be something like this: “Of the but Jesus Christ the birth thus was. Being betrothed the mother of him, Mary, to Joseph, before or to come together them she was found in belly having from Spirit Holy.”

Even the KJV, which many believe to be a very literal translation, renders this verse: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.”

This comparison makes the KJV look like a paraphrase next to a strictly literal translation! To some degree, every Bible translator is forced to move words around in a sentence to convey with meaning the thought of the verse. There is no such thing as a truly literal translation of the Bible, for there is not an equivalent language that perfectly conveys the meaning of the biblical text. Is it really possible to have a highly accurate and highly readable English Bible? We certainly hope so! It is so important that God’s Word is living in our hearts, ringing in our ears, and burning in our souls. Transferring God’s revelation from Hebrew and Greek into English is an art, not merely a linguistic science. Thus, we need all the accurate translations we can find. If a verse or passage in one translation seems confusing, it is good to do a side-by-side comparison with another version.

It is difficult to say which translation is the “best.” “Best” is often in the eyes of the reader and is determined by how important differing factors are to different people. However, the “best” translation, in my thinking, is the one that makes the Word of God clear and accurate, no matter how many words it takes to express it.

That’s the aim of The Passion Translation: to bring God’s eternal truth into a highly readable heart-level expression that causes truth and love to jump out of the text and lodge inside our hearts. A desire to remain accurate to the text and a desire to communicate God’s heart of passion for his people are the two driving forces behind TPT. So for those new to Bible reading, we hope TPT will excite and illuminate. For scholars and Bible students, we hope TPT will bring the joys of new discoveries from the text and prompt deeper consideration of what God has spoken to his people. We all have so much more to learn and discover about God in his holy Word!

You will notice at times we’ve italicized certain words or phrases. These portions are not in the original Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic manuscripts but are implied from the context. We’ve made these implications explicit for the sake of narrative clarity and to better convey the meaning of God’s Word. This is a common practice by mainstream translations.

We’ve also chosen to translate certain names in their original Hebrew or Greek forms to better convey their cultural meaning and significance. For instance, some translations of the Bible have substituted James for Jacob and Jude for Judah. Both Greek and Aramaic manuscripts leave these Hebrew names in their original forms. Therefore, this translation uses those cultural names.

The purpose of The Passion Translation is to reintroduce the passion and fire of the Bible to the English reader. It doesn’t merely convey the literal meaning of words. It expresses God’s passion for people and his world by translating the original, life-changing message of God’s Word for modern readers.

We pray this version of God’s Word will kindle in you a burning desire to know the heart of God, while impacting the church for years to come.

Please visit ThePassionTranslation.com for more information.

Brian Simmons and the translation team

JEREMIAH

(return to table of contents)

Introduction • One • Two • Three • Four • Five • Six • Seven • Eight • Nine • Ten • Eleven • Twelve • Thirteen • Fourteen • Fifteen • Sixteen • Seventeen • Eighteen • Nineteen • Twenty • Twenty-One • Twenty-Two • Twenty-Three • Twenty-Four • Twenty-Five • Twenty-Six • Twenty-Seven • Twenty-Eight • Twenty-Nine • Thirty • Thirty-One • Thirty-Two • Thirty-Three • Thirty-Four • Thirty-Five • Thirty-Six • Thirty-Seven • Thirty-Eight • Thirty-Nine • Forty • Forty-One • Forty-Two • Forty-Three • Forty-Four • Forty-Five • Forty-Six • Forty-Seven • Forty-Eight • Forty-Nine • Fifty • Fifty-One • Fifty-Two

JEREMIAH

Introduction

AT A GLANCE

Author: Traditionally Jeremiah

Audience: Originally Israel, but these revelations speak to everyone

Date: 627–586 BC

Type of Literature: Prophetic literature

Major Themes: Speaking prophetic truth; the coming righteous judgment; the coming hopeful restoration; the new covenant; seeing Jesus in the book

Outline:

I.Jeremiah’s call and commission — 1:1–19

II.Prophecies before the captivity — 2:1–38:28

III.The captivity of Judah — 39:1–18; 52:1–34

IV.Prophecies after the captivity — 40:1–51:64

ABOUT THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH

You are about to encounter one of the most unique books in the Bible, a book that plunges into the depths of despair while soaring to the heights of hope. The book of Jeremiah doesn’t shy away from warnings of judgment and destruction, chronicling the fallout from Judah’s unheeded prophetic revelation-insights. It serves as a warning that the patient heart of God also judges and punishes the hardened, unrepentant hearts of people. Yet running parallel to these warnings are words of tender compassion, holding out the possibility of forgiveness, redemption, and restoration.

It was written by a man known as the Weeping Prophet, the prophet Jeremiah. Before he was even born, he was divinely chosen by God, and he longed through tears for the nation of Judah to respond to the heart of God. God commissioned him to bear a message warning of judgment. God said, “My people … have abandoned me, the Spring of Living Water, and they have dug for themselves cisterns—cracked cisterns that hold no water” (Jer. 2:13). Idolatry was the taproot that fed Israel’s rebellion, which led to their destruction. For generations, God was waiting for them to repent; his heart, overflowing with love, was ready to pour out his forgiveness and grace. But his people refused to heed his voice.

The resulting judgment was disastrous: in vivid, highdefinition, color detail, Jeremiah gives us the sordid history of the last five kings of Judah, the cataclysmic destruction of the t emple, the utter desolation of Jerusalem, and the heartrending captivity of Judah in Babylon. It is a warning for all of the eventual judgment that befalls those whose hardened hearts refuse to listen to YAHWEH’s voice and obey his decrees. And yet this prophetic work is also one of hope. For although Israel had broken her covenant with YAHWEH, leading to the city’s destruction, there was a remarkable promise: “I, the Lord, promise you that a time is coming when I will raise up a righteous Branch who will sprout from David’s lineage. He will rule as their King, and his reign will prosper with wisdom and understanding. He will succeed in bringing justice and righteousness to all” (23:5).

This “Branch” is Jesus Christ, who is from the Tree of Life, the Rod of priestly authority that budded in the Holy Place, the Branch of the Lampstand, and the Righteous One, who makes righteous before God all who believe in him. Jeremiah reveals the message of the new covenant that God makes with his people today: “ ‘This is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel when the time has come,’ declares YAHWEH. ‘I will embed my law into the core of their being and write it on their hearts and minds. Then I will truly be their God, and they will truly be my people. … From the least to the greatest, they will all know me intimately,’ YAHWEH declares, ‘for I will remove their guilt and wipe their sin from my memory’ ” (31:33–34).

Vast in its scope, enduring in its truth, the revelation given to Jeremiah is meant to pierce the hardest of hearts, reminding people that alongside God’s judgment and destruction is his enduring promise of forgiveness and redemption. The Weeping Prophet’s message will convict you and lead you deeper into the ways of God, drawing you closer to his heart.

PURPOSE

Jeremiah was called to follow King Josiah’s national reformation by calling Judah to repentance. He lived in a time of crisis, political turmoil, and national disasters. He was the evening star of the declining days of the Jewish commonwealth before being taken into captivity. YAHWEH spoke to him as a teenager and called him into his true calling—to be a spokesman for God, bearing his message of repentance and forgiveness, punishment and ultimate renewal. This message and its purpose unfolded within a broader historical context, unveiling important revelation-insights into God’s spiritual purposes for the world.

Historically, the events of the book of Jeremiah occurred during a time of remarkable change in the ancient Near East. The Assyrian Empire collapsed, and the dreaded foe from the north, the kingdom of Babylon, strengthened and extended its rule. During this period, the kingdom of Judah experienced its own cataclysmic disaster. This prophetic history is not in chronological order. Instead, it was arranged to address God’s people in the midst of their catastrophe in order to turn their hearts to repentance and offer the hope of rescue and restoration.

Spiritually, Jeremiah reveals heaven’s mercy in calling a rebellious nation back to God. Sin breaks the heart of God, but mercy triumphs! Jeremiah’s book is full of mercy. It reveals the righteous judgments of God, for God’s discipline is a demonstration of his love; it shows God’s principle of restoration; it unveils the revelation of the Branch of YAHWEH; and it prophesies the new covenant that will draw people into an intimate relationship with God, imparting a new heart and wiping clean the stains of guilt and shame.

AUTHOR AND AUDIENCE

There can be little doubt that the book bearing his name was written by the prophet Jeremiah with the assistance of his scribe, Baruch ben Neriah. Jewish tradition holds that Jeremiah also wrote the two books of Kings and Lamentations. He appears on the scene as one full of passion and emotion; Jeremiah was known as the Weeping Prophet. His writing clearly reveals his personality: he wept many tears over his nation and their refusal to repent and honor the God of glory. Perhaps no better patriotic Jew ever lived compared to Jeremiah. Even the prophet Daniel consulted the words of his predecessor, Jeremiah (Dan. 9:2).

The Lord did not permit Jeremiah to marry (Jer. 16:2). He was a priest by birth and a prophet by grace. Jeremiah unceasingly advised Jerusalem to surrender to Babylon, so much so that he was considered a traitor to his nation. He suffered much for the sake of his people. In fact, because of the depths of his sufferings, Jewish tradition holds that Jeremiah is the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. His ministry endured for almost fifty years until he was finally carried off to Egypt and stoned to death at Tahpanhes.

Jeremiah lived about one hundred years after the prophet Isaiah. There were several prophetic voices in Israel and Judah during the lifetime and ministry of Jeremiah, including Zephaniah, Habakkuk (Hab. 2:1), Nahum, Obadiah, Ezekiel (Ezek. 3:17–21; 33:7), and Uriah (Jer. 26:20–23). Additionally, Jewish tradition states that Jeremiah and Zechariah were contemporaries with an overlapping ministry of a few years. God always gave both warning and comfort to his people through his prophets. When Nebuchadnezzar finally destroyed Jerusalem, Jeremiah would have been about fifty-seven years old. He likely lived several decades after that.

Jeremiah pleaded with the people of Judah and Jerusalem to repent of their idolatry and turn from their wicked ways, lest YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, rise up against them with promised punishment. He called them back to faithfulness in their devotion and dependence on YAHWEH. The book also served as a clarion call to subsequent generations of God’s people, with a warning to repent of their sins, a call to worship the one true God, and a reminder of the reality and possibility of YAHWEH’s judgment. It also gave them hope that God’s punishing hand still offered them grace, forgiveness, and redemption while anticipating a period of ultimate renewal through the restoration of Jerusalem and a new covenant between God and his people. We join that same audience, sitting in the same prophetic utterances. These revelation-insights still speak to us with warning and hope.

MAJOR THEMES

Speaking Prophetic Truth. Someone has described prophecy as not only fore-telling events to come but also forth-t elling truth today. As much as he articulated YAHWEH’s plans for the future, Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry pronounced moral truths in the present, confronting people with God’s Word to bring about radical change. In Jeremiah, we find a bold and brave, fierce and fiery, courageous and caring articulator of God’s plans for his people, not only to those in power—t he kings, priests, and prophets of Judah—but also to the regular men and women on Jerusalem’s streets. Even at the expense of his life, when a mob threatened to murder him, Jeremiah spoke truth to power, resting in YAHWEH’s promise that he was “always with you to rescue you” (1:19).

Our world is desperate for a new generation of forth-tellers to proclaim in our day the same moral truths found in this prophetic book, doing what Jeremiah did with his people: urging them to worship YAHWEH alone, orient their lives around his truths, submit to his authority, and forsake the ways of the world. If you feel unworthy or inadequate for the task—feeling too young or old, incapable or undeserving—remember the same revelation-insight Jeremiah received straight from the heart of God: “Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew you intimately. I had divine plans for you before I gave you life, and I set you apart and chose you to be mine. You are my prophetic gift to the nations. … Fear nothing when you confront the people, for I am with you, and I will protect you” (1:5, 8).

The Coming Righteous Judgment. Much of Jeremiah’s book centers around the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the nation of Judah. In fact, the prophetic work concludes with the city’s fall, the pursuit and capture of the king and his household, and the deportation of the people. This righteous judgment was the culmination of YAHWEH’s warnings stretching back to the book of Deuteronomy, particularly chapter 28, where YAHWEH outlined both blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. Now YAHWEH’s patience had run out; it was time to discipline his people for perverting Jerusalem and the temple and for their continued rebellion.

“I will pass sentence against the people of Jerusalem and Judah,” YAHWEH declared to Jeremiah, “for all their wickedness in deserting me. They have sacrificed to other gods and worshiped the works of their hands” (Jer. 1:16). That judgment would ultimately be rendered through Babylon, when they destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and then exiled the people. As one commentator puts it, “exile was, in a sense, the cleansing of the land as well as judgment on its inhabitants for their failure.”a YAHWEH’s judgment cleansed the land of its wicked inhabitants, his people of Judah, who had defiled it with their idolatry and sin. Jeremiah’s call was to warn YAHWEH’s people that this coming hand of discipline would fall upon them, while he was also calling them to repentance and obedience.

The Coming Hopeful Restoration. Although Jeremiah’s prophetic book is rather bleak, destruction and judgment are not the end of Judah’s story. YAHWEH offers a hopeful, forward-looking view of future healing and restoration through the life and words of his prophet. A promise that plumbs the depths of God’s heart reveals this hope, even for you: “Here’s what YAHWEH says to you: ‘I know all about the marvelous destiny I have in store for you, a future planned out in detail. I have no intention to harm you but to surround you with peace and prosperity and to give you a beautiful future, glistening with hope” (29:11).

This future restoration centers around a remnant, city, and temple. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed, yet the Lord promised both would “become to me a source of joy, honor, and splendor for all the earth to see” (33:9). Desolate and abandoned, the streets of Judah’s towns and of Jerusalem would hear once again the sounds of people and animals, along with “the raucous shouts of joy and mirth and the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride” (33:11). Not only that, but YAHWEH also promised, “You will once again hear the glad songs sung by those who bring thank offerings to my temple” (33:11).

This wasn’t all, for there was a promise straight from the glory realm given to the remnant of God’s faithful in exile. Yes, he promised to “heal them, restore them, and give them prosperity and lasting peace” (33:6), but it was more than that. He also promised to “cleanse them from all the guilt of all the sins they have committed against me. I will even forgive all their sins of rebellion against me” (33:8). This remnant would be saved by grace, pointing to the full unveiling of the gospel in the new covenant. A reminder that forgiveness is waiting, restoration is coming, and that your future, full of peace and prosperity, beauty and hope, is secure—overflowing from the heart of God.

The New Covenant. One of the more prophetic elements in the book of Jeremiah is its revelation-insight into the covenants God has made with humanity. The high point comes when the text speaks of a future new covenant unlike the old, which was established at Sinai and based on people’s outward obedience to God’s laws. The new covenant, however, imparts a new heart and empowers one to fulfill God’s desires. God gives us a new, faithful heart to follow him. No longer embodied in mere stone and keeping people at arm’s length through ritual, the covenant made new is etched on tablets of embodied hearts, written on the minds of believers.

This is the new covenant that Jesus Christ initiated at the Last Supper with the cup (his blood) and the bread (his body). This new covenant has been ratified and confirmed and forever supersedes the covenant made at Sinai. The Sinai covenant required perfect obedience; the new covenant extends perfect forgiveness and removes sin’s guilt, stain, and power. The first was written on stones, the second on tender hearts. It bridges the gulf between humanity and God by wiping away our guilt and sin, empowering every individual to know God intimately. From the least to the greatest, God intimately dwells in his people, and they dwell with him, experiencing the fullness of the heart of God.

Seeing Jesus in the Book. Many have noted certain similarities between Jeremiah and the life of our Lord Jesus. In fact, the foreshadowing was so strong that some disciples saw the prophet Jeremiah returned to life in Jesus (Matt. 16:14). Although no one truly compares to our glorious King Jesus, the Son of God, consider these striking similarities:

•Their historical settings were similar: captivity looming over Israel.

•Both had a message for Israel and the world.

•Both were priest-prophets.

•Both knew they were divinely called and chosen.

•Both condemned the commercialization of temple worship.

•Both were constantly accused by the religious elite.

•Both wept over Jerusalem (Jer. 9:1; Luke 19:41).

•Both were persecuted, tried, and imprisoned.

•Both were tenderhearted.

•Both deeply loved Israel.

•Both enjoyed deep communion with God.

•Neither married.

•Both emphasized a spirituality of the heart, not outward forms and traditions.

•Both emphasized the new covenant.

Not only have scholars taken into consideration these similarities between the prophet and Christ, but Jesus is also seen in the book of Jeremiah as:

The Benjamite, Son of God’s right hand (Jer. 1:1; Acts 2:34–35)

Prophet to the nations (Jer. 1:5; Acts 3:22–23)

The Almond-Awakening Rod and the Firstfruit Tree (Jer. 1:11–12; 1 Cor. 15:20)

The Spring of Living Water (Jer. 2:13; John 4:14)

The Husband of Jerusalem (Jer. 3:14; Eph. 5:25–32)

The Person who executes judgment (Jer. 5:1; John 5:22)

The Perpetual Decree (Jer. 5:22; John 1:1)

The Sign of Fire (Jer. 6:1; Heb. 12:29)

The Good Way (Jer. 6:16; John 14:6)

The Balm in Gilead (Jer. 8:22; 1 Peter 2:24)

The Lamb brought to the slaughter (Jer. 11:19; Acts 8:32–33)

The Strong Fortress of God’s people (Jer. 16:19; John 17:12)

The Tree of Life (Jer. 17:8; John 15:1–5)

Our Hope in the day of evil (Jer. 17:17; 1 Tim. 1:1)

The Righteous King (Jer. 23:5–6; Heb. 7:1–3)

The Voice of the Bridegroom (Jer. 25:10; John 3:29)

The Book (Jer. 30:2; Heb. 10:7)

The Father of the Firstborn (Jer. 31:9; Rom. 8:29)

The Law written on our hearts (Jer. 31:33; 2 Cor. 3:2–3; Col. 1:27)

The Great and Mighty God (Jer. 32:18; Rom. 16:27)

The Honest and Faithful Witness (Jer. 42:5; Rev. 1:5)

The Sword (Jer. 42:16; John 1:1; Heb. 4:12)

The Heir of Israel (Jer. 49:1; Heb. 1:1–3)

The Eternal Covenant (Jer. 50:5; Heb. 13:20)

The Armory of God (Jer. 50:25; Eph. 6:10–18)

The Powerful Redeemer (Jer. 50:34; Gal. 3:13–14)

a   J. Andrew Dearman, The NIV Application Commentary: Jeremiah and Lamentations (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 38.

JEREMIAH

The Prophet of Righteousness

Introduction

1 The propheciesa of Jeremiah,b the son of Hilkiah.c

Jeremiah was one of the priests from the village of Anathothd in the territory of Benjamin. 2YAHWEH began to reveal his message to hime in the thirteenth year of King Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.f3YAHWEH continued to speak to him throughout the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the fifth month of the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, another son of Josiah, king of Judah.g That was when the people of Jerusalem went into captivity to Babylon.

The Call of Jeremiah

4YAHWEH spoke these words to me:

5“Before I shaped you in the womb,h I knew you intimately.i

I had divine plans for you before I gave you life,

and I set you apart and chose you to be mine.

You are my prophetic giftj to the nations.”k

6I replied: “But Lord YAHWEH, I don’t know how to speak in public. Besides, I’m too young.”l7But YAHWEHinterrupted me:

“Do not use your youth as an excuse,m

for you will go wherever I send you,

and you will speak whatever I tell you to say.n

8Fear nothing when you confront the people,

for I am with you, and I will protect you.

I, YAHWEH, have spoken.”

9Then YAHWEH reached out with his hand and touched my moutho and said to me:

“Now I have put my words in your mouth.p

10See! Today I have imparted to you great authorityq

over nations and governments,r

to uproot and demolish, to destroy and dismantle.

And you will plant and build something new.”s

Two Visions

11YAHWEH spoke to me again: “What do you see, Jeremiah?”t

I replied: “I see an almond branch.”

12“You have seen the vision correctly,” YAHWEH said. “Now know this: I constantly watch over my word to fulfill it.”u

13YAHWEH spoke these words to me a second time: “Now what do you see?”

I replied, “I see a large boiling pot,v tipped toward us from the north.”

14Then YAHWEH said:

“This means disaster will boil over from the north,

and calamity will spill over everyone living in this land.w

15Listen! I, YAHWEH, declare that I am about to summon

all the armies of the northern kingdoms.

Their kings will come and set up their thrones

at the gatesx of Jerusalem.

They will attack its walls

and all the other cities of Judah.

16I will pass sentencey against the people of Jerusalem and Judah

for all their wickedness in deserting me.

They have sacrificed to other gods

and worshiped the works of their hands.

17“Jeremiah, get yourself ready!

Arise with fresh courage and say to them

all that I command you to say.

Do not break down before them,

lest I break you before them.

18Listen! Today, I am making you as strong as a fortified city,z

unbreakable as an iron pillar,aa

and impenetrable as bronze walls.

You will withstand the persecution of the whole land

and the contempt of Judah’s kings, officers, priests, and all the people.

19They will fight against you, but they will not win,

for I promise I am always with you to rescue you.

I, YAHWEH, have spoken.”

a  1:1 Or “words,” “message,” “story,” “account,” “deeds,” or “activities.”

b  1:1 Jeremiah means “YAHWEH exalts,” “YAHWEH establishes [promotes],” or “YAHWEH loosens [the womb].” The book of Jeremiah mentions the prophet’s name 122 times, and the New Testament mentions him 2 times (see Matt. 2:17; 16:14). Jeremiah was a tenderhearted prophet who stood for the righteousness of God. In a sense, this book is his autobiography.

c  1:1 Hilkiah means “YAHWEH is my portion.” Some scholars identify Hilkiah as the high priest who discovered the Book of the Law in the temple in the days of King Josiah (see 2 Kings 22:3–4, 8). Regardless, Hilkiah was a priest, which would qualify Jeremiah to be a priest. Therefore, Jeremiah was both a prophet and a priest.

d  1:1 God designated Anathoth as a city of refuge and a city given to the Levitical priests (see Josh. 21:18). Anathoth may mean “answers” or “shoutings.” However, some etymologists believe Anathoth derived its name from the goddess Anat (Anath). King Solomon banished Abiathar the high priest to Anathoth (see 1 Kings 2:26) because of his part in the plot to have Adonijah succeed David as king. Jeremiah possibly descended from Abiathar, accounting for the reference to “one of the priests” in Anathoth. The exact location of ancient Anathoth is uncertain, though most biblical archaeologists identify it with the modern Ras el-Kharrubeh, about a half mile (one kilometer) south of Anata and about three miles (five kilometers) north of Jerusalem.

e  1:2 Or “the word of YAHWEH came to him.” The Hebraic way of thinking considers the word of YAHWEH to possess life itself and to be an entity that expresses God. For the believer, we know that this Word has now become a Man (see John 1:1–14).

f  1:2 Josiah was king of Judah from 640 to 609 BC; the thirteenth year of his reign would then be 627–626 BC. Josiah came to the throne at the age of eight (see 2 Kings 22:1), and Jeremiah was likely ten at that time. In Josiah’s eighteenth year as king, he initiated a religious reform for which he is famous (see 2 Kings 22:3; 23:1–27). In Jer. 22:15–17, Jeremiah contrasts Josiah with his evil son Jehoiakim. Jeremiah and King Josiah were nearly the same age.

g  1:3 Jehoiakim reigned from 609 to 598 BC, and afterward, there was a brief reign of Jehoiachin for just three months before Zedekiah (see 2 Kings 24:8), who reigned from 598 to 586 BC. During Zede-kiah’s rule, the siege of Jerusalem took place, and in the eleventh year of his reign (586 BC), all Judah fell to the Babylonian army. There is some debate among scholars regarding whether Jerusalem fell in July 587 or 586 BC; the translation team will provide dates using 586 BC as the year Jerusalem fell. The major result of the siege of Jerusalem was the destruction of the temple (the symbol of YAHWEH’s presence in the midst of his people).

h  1:5 God creates all human life and gives each human being his image. See Isa. 49:1, 5; Gal. 1:15–16. God loved us and knew us intimately before we were born (see Ps. 139). He predestined us to serve him, accomplishing a pre-designed set of good works chosen for us to do. See Mark 16:20; Rom. 8:30; Eph. 1:4; 2:10; 1 Peter 1:2.

i  1:5 Scholars agree that the Hebrew word translated “I knew you intimately” covers a greater meaning than that of intellectual knowledge. It refers to the closest relationship possible. God knows each one with complete understanding of the total person as a thinking, willing, and feeling being.

j  1:5 Although most translations read “I appointed you a prophet,” the Hebrew word means “give.” God gave Jeremiah as a gift. Ministry is more than a call, a task, or a responsibility; it is the outflow of a gift from God.

k  1:5 Jeremiah was told to proclaim God’s word not only to the Jewish people of his day but also to the nations after the fall of Judah. God knew Jeremiah’s words would live and pierce our hearts today.

l  1:6 Although Jeremiah’s age is impossible to tell with complete certainty, some scholars believe that he was between thirteen and seventeen at this time. Our age never disqualifies us from speaking for God.

m 1:7 Jeremiah, like ourselves, had to learn to see himself as God saw him and not hide behind any excuse.

n 1:7 Jeremiah focused on his perceived limitations, but God wanted Jeremiah to focus on the Unlimited One who was sending him to proclaim the words of YAHWEH. See Ex. 4:10–12; 6:12, 30; Deut. 18:18; 1 Kings 3:7.

o 1:9 One of the seraphim touched Isaiah’s mouth with a burning coal taken from the altar (see Isa. 6:6–7), but YAHWEH himself touched Jeremiah’s mouth. The significance of the two actions is quite different: with Isaiah, it is a sign of the purification of his lips from sin; here it is God’s impartation of both revelation and authority to Jeremiah to speak the message God gave him to speak. See Deut. 18:18.

p  1:9 That is, YAHWEH promised Jeremiah that he would have authoritative words to speak for God. The Hebrew verb for “put my words in your mouth” is a Qal perfect conjugation and indicates a completed and perfected action. The implication is that YAHWEH promised Jeremiah, “I have put all my words in your mouth that you will ever need.” Today, God still can put his words in the mouths of his true prophets. See 1 Peter 4:11.

q  1:10 Or “I have made you an overseer.”

r  1:10 Or “kingdoms.” It is clear from v. 9 that the words God placed in Jeremiah’s mouth (heart) would carry the authority and power to uproot and demolish, to destroy and dismantle.

s  1:10 See Jer. 31:4–5.

t  1:11 This is not normal sight, but is from the root word used for the older term for “prophet” (see 1 Sam. 9:9). The prophet is a “see-er.” It is important that those who speak for God answer the question, “What do you see?,” for what you see determines what you preach. Do you only see what is negative? Jeremiah rightly saw the vision of an awakening, a reviving from a cold winter. His second vision was judgment. When we first see that God is the Awakener who watches over every word he has spoken, then we are able to see properly and interpret the coming judgment correctly.

u  1:12 Jeremiah was not dreaming; he saw an open vision. The Hebrew play on words between the word for “almond” (Hb. shaqed) and the word for “watching [wakeful]” (Hb. shoqed) is lost in translation. The almond was also known as “the awakening tree,” for its blooms signaled the change from winter to spring. The word shoqed means that God remains alert and sleepless and is always on the lookout to hasten the fulfillment of his word. The almond tree was known as the tree that doesn’t sleep in the winter since it often blooms in late January. God does not sleep and is always careful to bring his words to pass, though the timing may be mysterious. Even in a bleak winter season, God will bring forth his plans.

v  1:13 Or “a blown pot,” usually understood as a pot over fire being fanned by the wind. This second revelation summarizes one of the themes of Jeremiah’s message: God will allow an invasion from the north to punish his people. In a sense, Jeremiah himself would be an “almond branch” (awakener) and a “boiling pot” (messenger of judgment).

w  1:14 That is, the land of Judah.

x  1:15 The gates of an ancient city were double gates, with an inner gate and an outer gate. Built over the gates was an enclosed room and, above that, a lookout post. The space between the gates served as a place of government; here the leaders of the city or kings would sit to make official decisions or pass judgment (e.g., Ruth 4:1–11). Thus, foreign kings placing their thrones at the gates of Jerusalem meant that they were replacing the royal authority of Judah with their own. Metaphorically, the foreign kings could also represent demon principalities usurping God’s authority among his people.

y  1:16 Or “I will argue my case.”

z  1:18 Or “I give you [the identity of] a strong fortified city.” God cares about Jeremiah’s emotional state and assures him that a new identity of strength and fortitude would be his gift from God. See Isa. 50:7.

aa1:18 See Rev. 3:12.

God’s Love for Israel

2 YAHWEH spoke these words to me: 2“Go, preach this messagea publicly for all Jerusalem to hear: ‘YAHWEH says to you:

“ ‘I fondly remember the single-hearted devotionb

you had for me in your youth.c

You loved me deeply as a bride loves a bridegroom.d

You followed me closely in the desert,

in a land where no crops grow.

3Israel, like the firstfruits of my harvest,

I set you apart, and you belonged to me alone.e

Anyone who devoured youf I made to suffer,

and I rained disaster down upon them.

I, YAHWEH, have spoken.’ ”

Israel’s History

4Jacob’s tribes, listen! Every clan of Israel, listen to the words of YAHWEH. 5He declares to you:

“What did your ancestors find wrong with me

that they would run so far away from me?

They left me to follow worthless idols

and themselves became worthless!g

6They never stopped to ask themselves,

‘Where is YAHWEH, who rescued us from Egypt?

Where is the YAHWEH who led us through the wilderness,h

through a barren wasteland with its pits and problems?

Where is the one who led us

through a land of deserts and droughts,

dangers and deep darknessi—

where no one lives nor even passes through?’

7“I brought you to this land of abundance

to enjoy its lush fruit and goodness,

but you entered the land and defiled my land.j

You made hideous the very land I call my own.

8The priests did not stop and ask,

‘Where is YAHWEH?’

The scribal scholarsk did not intimately know me.

The shepherdslof the people rebelled against me.

The false prophets prophesied by the spirit of Baal,m

and they worshiped idols that could not help them.n

9Therefore I, YAHWEH, will bring charges against you once more,

and not only against you but against your descendants as well.

I, YAHWEH, have spoken.”

Israel’s Idolatry

10“Go off to the Greek islandso and investigate for yourselves.

Take a close look at Kedarp also

and observe very carefully.

Has there ever been anything as disgusting as this?

11Has a nation ever traded in its gods

(even though they are not really gods)?

But my people have bartered away their gloryq

in exchange for gods who do nothing.

12Be appalled, O heavens, and cringe with fear!

Be shockedr and utterly devastated at this betrayal!

I, YAHWEH, have spoken.

13“My people are guilty of a double sin:

they have abandoned me, the Spring of Living Water,s

and they have dug for themselves cisternst—

cracked cisterns that hold no water.”u

The Bitter Results of Unfaithfulness to God

14“Is Israel a slave? Was he born a slave?

Why, then, has he been seized like prey?

15His enemies have raged against him,

roaring like fierce lions.v

They leveled his cities, left them without inhabitants,

and devastated his land.

16Moreover, Egyptian armies will march from Memphis and Tahpanhes.w

They will come and shave your head bald.x

17Israel, you have no one to blame but yourselves!

You stubbornly turned away even though YAHWEH, your God,

was leading you the right way.

18Why, then, would you now go down to Egypt

to drink the waters of the Nile?y

Why would you go to Assyria

to drink from the river Euphrates?z

19Your own wickedness punishes you.

Your own unfaithfulness rebukes you.

Look deep into your heart and you will learn

how evil and bitter it is

to forsake me, YAHWEH your God,

and have no awe of me.aa

I, YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, have spoken.”

Israel Is like an Unfaithful Wife

20“Long ago, you broke your bond with me and severed ties.ab

You boldly said, ‘I will not serve you!’

Yet, on every high hill and under every green tree,

you offered yourself to other gods.

You were like a prostitute sprawled out awaiting sex.

21I planted you like a special vineac

from the absolute best seed,ad

but look at what you’ve become now!

You’re like a twisted, rotten vine.

22Even if you scrubbed yourself with the strongest soap,

your guilty stainsae would remain before my face.

I, Lord YAHWEH, have spoken.

23“How dare you say, ‘I have not defiled myself.

I’ve not chased after false gods.’af

Look how you behaved badly in the valley.ag

Don’t you realize what you’ve done?

You’re like a restless wild camel running loose

24or like a wild female donkey

accustomed to the wilderness.

While in heat, she sniffs the wind,

and in her lust, no one can restrain her.

Any male that wants her will find her ready.

25Israel, don’t chase after other gods

until you wear out your sandals

and your throats are parched with thirst.

Yet, you still say,

‘It’s hopeless; I can’t stop chasing them.

I desperately love these foreign gods.’ ”

Israel Disgraced

26“Just as a thief is ashamed when caught in the act,

so all Israel will be shamed—

your kings and princes, your prophets and priests.

27You have called an idol of wood your ‘father’

and an idol of stone your ‘mother.’

You have turned your back toward me instead of your face.

But how different it is when you get into trouble!

You cry out to me and ask me to come and save you.

28Now where are all your homemade gods?

They are nowhere to be found.

Let them arise and save you in your time of trouble!

Judah, you have as many gods as you have villages!ah

29What right do you have to complain about me?

You have all rebelled against me,” declares YAHWEH.

30“I’ve wasted my time punishing you

because you did not respond to my correction.

With the ferocity of a hungry lion,

you murdered the prophets I sent to you.

31“O people of this generation,

see the wordai of YAHWEH:

Have I been like a wilderness to Israel

or a dangerous land full of gloom?

Then why do my people say,

‘We’re free to do as we want,

and we have no intention of returning to serve you anymore.’

32Does a young woman disregard her engagement ring,

or does a bride forget about her wedding dress?

Yet, my people have continually forgotten me.

33How skillfully you pursue your lovers;

even the worst adulterers could learn from you.aj

34Your clothes are stained

with the lifeblood of the helpless and innocent,

though you did not catch them breaking into your home.ak

Despite all your guilt,

35you dare to say, ‘I’m innocent!

YAHWEH is not angry with me anymore.’

But watch out! I, YAHWEH, will judge you for perjury

because you say: ‘I have not sinned.’

36Look how you cheapen yourself

by constantly shifting your course.al

Egypt will put you to shame just as Assyria did.

37You will turn away from Egypt utterly humiliated,am

for I, YAHWEH, have completely rejected those you trust.

No alliance will be able to help you!”

a  2:1 Jeremiah began his first sermon with an impassioned plea for Israel to forsake her shameless idolatry. Jeremiah compared Israel to a wife who forsakes her husband for promiscuous affairs with men. Jeremiah charged his people with unfaithfulness to God and warned Israel of the coming Babylonian invasion. In contrast to Hezekiah’s response to Isaiah’s warnings that saved Judah from the Assyrians, Jeremiah’s warnings went unheeded. For twenty chapters Jeremiah appealed, pleaded, and warned with strong words and, at times, with tenderness of heart, but still Israel would not listen to the young prophet whom God had sent to them.

b  2:2 Or “faithfulness.” This is the Hebrew word chesed, which stresses covenant love, kindness, and loyalty. See Pss. 98:3; 106:44–45; see also Ps. 132:11.

c  2:2 See Ezek. 16:8, 43, 60; Hos. 2:15.

d  2:2 Or “[I remember] how you loved me in the time of your engagement.”

e  2:3 Or “Israel was holy to YAHWEH.” The Hebrew concept of holy is “to be set apart and reserved [only for YAHWEH].”

f  2:3 Or “All who ate of it.” See Gen. 12:3; Jer. 12:14; Ezek. 25:12–13.

g  2:5 This Hebrew pun is intensified by the word for “worthless,” which in Hebrew sounds like the name Baal. Baal was a Canaanite fertility god.

h  2:6 See Deut. 6:10–18; 8:14–16; 32:10; Rom. 8:14.

i  2:6 Or “death’s shadow.”

j  2:7 The land was defiled by Israel’s adoption of Canaanite fertility cults (see Hos. 5:3; 6:10). The land can be polluted by the sins of its occupants.

k  2:8 Or “those skilled at handling the law.”

l  2:8 That is, the rulers.

m 2:8 That is, the prophets may have assumed that they were prophesying by the Spirit of YAHWEH. In reality, they were moved by the spirit of Baal. They were guilty of intermingling the Canaanite religion with the worship of the true God.

n 2:8 The Hebrew text contains a play on words that is lost in English in the similarity of the words for “Baal” (Hb. ba’al) and “no help” or “no profit” (Hb. ya’al).

o 2:10 Or “the coastlines/islands of the Kittites [Cyprus],” a metonymy for the Greek isles.

p  2:10 Kedar was the region of desert nomads descended from Ish-mael (see Gen. 25:13) in northern Arabia, situated in an easterly direction (see Jer. 49:28). YAHWEH wanted Israel to send messengers to the west and to the east (everywhere) to see if any nation was forsaking their god to worship another god as Judah was doing.

q