JeremiahChapter 15

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¹Then the LORD said to me, "Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me, my heart would not go out to these people. Send them away from me. Let them go! ²They may ask you, 'Where should we go?' Then tell them this is what the LORD says: 'Those meant for death will go to death. Those meant for the sword will go to the sword. Those meant for hunger will go to hunger. And those meant to be captured will go as captives.' ³I will send four kinds of destroyers against them, says the LORD. The sword will kill. The dogs will drag away. And the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth will eat and destroy. ⁴I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. This is because of what Manasseh did in Jerusalem. He was the son of Hezekiah and the king of Judah. ⁵Who will feel sorry for you, Jerusalem?
Who will cry for you?
Who will stop to ask how you are? ⁶You have left me, says the LORD.
You have turned your back on me.
So I will reach out my hand against you and destroy you.
I am tired of showing you mercy. ⁷I will scatter them with a winnowing fork
at the gates of the land.
I will take away their children and destroy my people,
for they have not turned from their ways. ⁸I will make their widows more in number than the sand of the sea.
At noon I will bring a destroyer
against the mothers of young men.
I will suddenly bring pain and terror on them. ⁹The mother of seven will grow weak.
She will breathe her last breath.
Her sun will go down while it is still day.
She will be shamed and put down.
And the rest of them I will kill with the sword
while their enemies watch," says the LORD. ¹⁰How sad for me, my mother, that you gave birth to me!
I am a man of fighting and arguing in all the land.
I have not lent money or borrowed it.
Yet everyone curses me. ¹¹The LORD said, "I will surely rescue you for a good purpose.
I will surely plead with your enemy for you
in your time of trouble and pain.a ¹²Can anyone break iron,
iron from the north, or bronze? ¹³I will give away your riches and treasures as loot.
No price will be paid for them.
This is because of all your sins in every part of your land. ¹⁴Then I will make you slaves to your enemies
in a land you do not know.
For my anger will start a fire
that will burn against you." ¹⁵You understand, LORD.
Remember me and take care of me.
Pay back the people who hurt me.
In your patience, do not take me away.
Know that I suffer shame for your sake. ¹⁶Your words came to me, and I ate them up.
Your words became my joy and the delight of my heart.
For I am called by your name,
LORD God of Hosts. ¹⁷I never sat with the party crowd.
I never had fun with them.
I sat alone because your hand was on me.
For you have filled me with anger. ¹⁸Why does my pain never end?
Why is my wound so bad that it won't heal?
You have become like a mirage to me,
like water that is not really there. ¹⁹So this is what the LORD says:
"If you come back, I will make you right again.
You will stand before me.
If you speak words that are good and not worthless,
you will speak for me.
Let them turn to you,
but you must not turn to them. ²⁰Then I will make you like a wall to these people,
a strong wall of bronze.
They will fight against you,
but they will not beat you.
For I am with you to save you and rescue you," says the LORD. ²¹"I will rescue you from the hands of evil people.
I will set you free from the grip of cruel people."