Jeremiah
15 And Jehovah proceeded to say to me: “If Moses+ and Samuel+ were standing before me, my soul would not be toward this people.+ There would be a sending of them away from before my face, that they might go out.+ 2 And it must occur that should they say to you, ‘Where shall we go out to?’ you must also say to them, ‘This is what Jehovah has said: “Whoever is for deadly plague, to deadly plague! And whoever is for the sword, to the sword! And whoever is for the famine, to the famine!+ And whoever is for the captivity, to the captivity!”’+
3 “‘And I will commission over them four families,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘the sword to kill, and the dogs to drag away, and the flying creatures of the heavens+ and the beasts of the earth to eat and to bring to ruin. 4 And I will give them for a quaking to all the kingdoms of the earth+ on account of Ma·nasʹseh the son of Hez·e·kiʹah,* the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.+ 5 For who will show compassion upon you, O Jerusalem, and who will sympathize with you,+ and who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?’
6 “‘You yourself have deserted me,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘Backwards is the way you keep walking.+ And I shall stretch out my hand against you and bring you to ruin.+ I have got tired of feeling regret.+ 7 And I shall winnow them with a fork+ in the gates of the land. I shall certainly bereave [them] of children.+ I will destroy my people, [since] they have not turned back from their own ways.+ 8 To me their* widows have become more numerous than the sand grains of the seas. I will bring for them, upon mother, young man, the despoiler at midday.+ I will cause to fall upon them* suddenly excitement and disturbances.+ 9 The woman giving birth to seven has faded away; her soul has struggled for breath.+ Her sun has set while it is yet day;+ it has become ashamed and felt abashed.’ ‘And to the sword I shall give the mere remnant of them before their enemies,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah.”
10 Woe to me,+ O my mother, because you have given birth to me, a man subject to quarrel and a man subject to strife with all the earth.+ I have given no loan, and they have given me no loan. All of them* are calling down evil upon me.+
11 Jehovah has said: “Surely I will minister to you for good.+ Surely I will intercede for you in the time of calamity+ and in the time of distress, against the enemy.+ 12 Can one break iron in pieces, iron out of the north, and copper? 13 Your resources and your treasures I shall give for mere plunder,+ not for a price, but for all your sins, even in all your territories.+ 14 And I will cause [them] to pass over with your enemies into a land that you have not known.+ For a fire itself has been ignited in my anger.+ Against YOU people it is kindled.”
15 You yourself have known.+ O Jehovah, remember me+ and turn your attention to me and avenge me upon my persecutors.+ In your slowness to anger do not take me away.+ Take note of my bearing reproach on account of your own self.+ 16 Your words were found, and I proceeded to eat them;+ and your word becomes to me the exultation+ and the rejoicing of my heart;+ for your name has been called upon me,+ O Jehovah God of armies.+ 17 I have not sat down in the intimate group of those playing jokes+ and begun exulting.+ Because of your hand I have sat down all by myself,+ for it is with denunciation that you have filled me.+ 18 Why has my pain become chronic+ and my stroke incurable?+ It has refused to be healed. You positively become to me like something deceitful,+ like waters that have proved untrustworthy.+
19 Therefore this is what Jehovah has said: “If you will come back, then I shall bring you back.+ Before me you will stand.+ And if you will bring forth what is precious from valueless things, you will become like my own mouth. They themselves will come back to you, but you yourself will not come back to them.”
20 “And I have made you to this people a fortified copper wall;+ and they will certainly fight against you, but they will not prevail over you.+ For I am with you, to save you and to deliver you,”+ is the utterance of Jehovah. 21 “And I will deliver you out of the hand of the bad ones,+ and I will redeem you out of the palm of the tyrannical ones.”