Jeremiah 15

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

6 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 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 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 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,” declares the LORD.

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

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

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

1 ¶ Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, [yet] my mind [could] not [be] toward this people: cast [them] out of my sight, and let them go forth.

2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as [are] for death, to death; and such as [are] for the sword, to the sword; and such as [are] for the famine, to the famine; and such as [are] for the captivity, to the captivity.

3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.

4 And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for [that] which he did in Jerusalem.

5 For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest?

6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.

7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave [them] of children, I will destroy my people, [since] they return not from their ways.

8 Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused [him] to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city.

9 She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while [it was] yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.

10 ¶ Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; [yet] every one of them doth curse me.

11 The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee [well] in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.

12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?

13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and [that] for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.

14 And I will make [thee] to pass with thine enemies into a land [which] thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, [which] shall burn upon you.

15 ¶ O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.

16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.

18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, [which] refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, [and as] waters [that] fail?

19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, [and] thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.

20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I [am] with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.

1 And the LORD said unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet have I no heart toward this people. Drive them away from me, and let them go.

2 And if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go? say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Whom death shall smite, let it smite him; whom the sword shall smite, let it smite him; whom famine shall smite, let it smite him; whom prison shall smite, let it smite him.

3 For I will punish them with four plagues, saith the LORD; with the sword, that they may be slain; with dogs, that they may be dragged; with the fowls of the air, and with the beasts of the earth, that they may be devoured, and be put to death.

4 And I will drive them to and fro throughout all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh the son of Jehizkiah king of Judah, because of his transgression in Jerusalem.

5 Who then will have mercy upon thee, O Jerusalem? Who then will have compassion on thee? Who then will go and buy thee peace?

6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, and fallen away from me: therefore have I stretched out mine hand against thee, to destroy thee: I am weary of mercy.

7 And I will cast them out of the land with the shovel of words, and will make my people vain orphans, if they turn not from their nature, and will destroy them.

8 There shall be more widows for me among them than there are sands of the sea. I will bring upon the mother of the young men a manifest destroyer, and will overtake the city with it suddenly and unawares,

9 She that hath seven children shall be wretched, and shall groan with her heart. For their sun shall go down in high day; and both their glory and their joy shall be at an end. And the rest will I put to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.

10 O my mother, that thou hast born me, against whom all men dispute and quarrel in all the land! I have neither lent nor borrowed on usury, nor do men curse me.

11 And the LORD said, Well, I will spare you a few, and they shall prosper: and I will come to your help in trouble and in fear from among your enemies.

12 Thinkest thou not that there is an iron that can break the iron and brass of the north?

13 But I will first give your goods and your treasures into the bottle, and ye shall receive nothing for them; and that for all your sins which ye have committed in all your borders.

14 And I will bring you unto your enemies into a land which ye know not: for the fire is come upon you in mine anger.

15 O Lord, thou knowest; remember us, and take care of us, and avenge us on our persecutors. Receive us, and consume not thine anger upon them: for thou knowest that we are reproached for thy sake.

16 But keep thy word from us, if we have it: and thy word is the joy and comfort of our hearts: for we are called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

17 We will not join the scoffers, nor rejoice with them, but we will be alone before thy hand: for thou art very angry with us.

18 Why is our grief so long, and our wounds so grievous, that no man can heal them? Thou art become unto us as a spring that will no more spring.

19 Therefore thus saith the LORD; If thou shalt cleave unto me, I will cleave unto thee, and thou shalt be my preacher: and if thou shalt teach the righteous from the wicked, thou shalt be my teacher: and before thou shalt fall unto them, they shall fall unto thee.

20 For I have made thee a strong wall of brass against this people: though they fight against thee, they shall not hurt thee: for I am with thee to help thee, and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

21 And will also deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and will redeem thee out of the hand of tyrants.