Jeremiah 15 Free Bible Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 The Lord told me: Even if Moses and Samuel were standing before me pleading with me on behalf of these people, I wouldn't feel sorry for them. Send them away from me. Have them leave.
1 Then Yahweh said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not turn toward this people. Cast them out of my sight, and let them go out!
2 If they ask you, “Where shall we go?” tell them that this is what the Lord says: Those to be killed by the plague, to the plague; those to be killed by the sword, to the sword; those to be killed by famine, to famine; and those to be killed in captivity, to captivity.
2 It will happen when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go out?’ then you shall tell them, ‘Yahweh says: “Such as are for death, to death; such as are for the sword, to the sword; such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity.”’
3 I will put four kinds of destroyers in charge of them, declares the Lord: swords to kill, dogs to drag their bodies away, and the birds of prey and wild animals to eat them and destroy them.
3 “I will appoint over them four kinds,” says Yahweh: “the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, the birds of the sky, and the animals of the earth, to devour and to destroy.
4 I will make all the kingdoms of the world horrified by them, because of the evil things Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, king of Judah did in Jerusalem.
4 I will cause them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
5 Who will be sorry for you, Jerusalem? Who will mourn for you? Who will stop to ask you how you are?
5 For who will have pity on you, Jerusalem? Who will mourn you? Who will come to ask of your welfare?
6 You have deserted me, declares the Lord. You have turned your back on me. So I will take action against you and destroy you; I am tired of showing you mercy.
6 You have rejected me,” says Yahweh. “You have gone backward. Therefore I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you. I am weary of showing compassion.
7 I will scatter you with a winnowing fork from every town in the country. I will destroy my people and take away their children because they refuse to give up their evil ways.
7 I have winnowed them with a fan in the gates of the land. I have bereaved them of children. I have destroyed my people. They didn’t return from their ways.
8 There will be more widows than the sand of the sea. I will bring a destroyer at noon and mothers will lose their young sons. They will suddenly experience agony and shock.
8 Their widows are increased more than the sand of the seas. I have brought on them against the mother of the young men a destroyer at noonday. I have caused anguish and terrors to fall on her suddenly.
9 A mother of seven children will collapse; she will gasp for breath. Her sun will set while it's still daytime; she will be ashamed and humiliated. I will let the enemies kill the rest of them, declares the Lord.
9 She who has borne seven languishes. She has given up the spirit. Her sun has gone down while it was yet day. She has been disappointed and confounded. I will deliver their residue to the sword before their enemies,” says Yahweh.
10 How sad I am, my mother, that you gave birth to me! I'm a victim of argument and conflict wherever I go in the country. I have never lent anyone anything, or borrowed anything, but still everyone curses me.
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 not lent, neither have men lent to me; yet every one of them curses me.
11 But the Lord told me: Don't worry, I'm going to take away your problems so you can do good. I will make your enemies plead with you whenever they're in trouble or suffering.
11 Yahweh said, “Most certainly I will strengthen you for good. Most certainly I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.
12 Can anyone break iron, iron from the north, or bronze?
12 Can one break iron, even iron from the north, and bronze?
13 I will give away your wealth and valuable possessions for free. They will become plunder for your enemies because of all the sins you committed throughout your country.
13 I will give your substance and your treasures for a plunder without price, and that for all your sins, even in all your borders.
14 Then I will have your enemies make you their slaves in an unfamiliar country, because my anger will be like lighting a fire that will burn you up.
14 I will make them to pass with your enemies into a land which you don’t know; for a fire is kindled in my anger, which will burn on you.”
15 You know what's happening to me, Lord. Please remember me and look after me. Punish my persecutors! Please be patient—don't let me die! You know I put up with criticism because I want to honor you.
15 Yahweh, you know. Remember me, visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors. You are patient, so don’t take me away. Know that for your sake I have suffered reproach.
16 When I received your messages, I ate them up! What you said made me really happy—I was delighted. I belong to you, Lord God Almighty!
16 Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by your name, Yahweh, God of Armies.
17 I didn't join in with a bunch of jokers as they had fun. I stayed by myself because you have called me, and you have filled me with outrage.
17 I didn’t sit in the assembly of those who make merry and rejoice. I sat alone because of your hand, for you have filled me with indignation.
18 Why doesn't my pain ever stop? Why is my wound incurable? Why can't it be healed? You've really become like a seasonal stream to me, an unreliable source of water.
18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? Will you indeed be to me as a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?
19 So this is what the Lord says: If you come back to me, I will take you back and you will serve me again. If what you talk about are worthwhile subjects and not nonsense, you will be my spokesman, Jeremiah. They must be the ones who follow you; you must not follow them.
19 Therefore Yahweh says, “If you return, then I will bring you again, that you may stand before me; and if you take out the precious from the vile, you will be as my mouth. They will return to you, but you will not return to them.
20 Then I will make you a wall to these people, a strong wall of bronze. They will fight against you but they won't defeat you. I am with you to save you and rescue you, declares the Lord.
20 I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall. They will fight against you, but they will not prevail against you; for I am with you to save you and to deliver you,” says Yahweh.
21 I will liberate you from the power of the wicked, and free you from the clutches of the cruel.
21 “I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you out of the hand of the terrible.”
Cross references (21)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Ezekiel 14:14; Ezekiel 14:20–21; Jeremiah 14:11; Jeremiah 11:14; Psalm 106:23
- 2 Jeremiah 43:11; Zechariah 11:9; Revelation 6:3–8; Ezekiel 5:2; Revelation 13:10
- 3 Deuteronomy 28:26; Leviticus 26:16; Leviticus 26:22; Ezekiel 14:21; Leviticus 26:25
- 4 Jeremiah 24:9; 2 Kings 24:3–4; 2 Kings 21:11–13; 2 Kings 21:16–17; 2 Kings 23:26–27
- 5 Isaiah 51:19; Nahum 3:7; Jeremiah 21:7; Psalm 69:20; Jeremiah 16:5
- 6 Jeremiah 7:24; Zephaniah 1:4; Hosea 11:7; Isaiah 1:4; Zechariah 7:11
- 7 Matthew 3:12; Jeremiah 51:2; Jeremiah 5:3; Isaiah 9:13; Isaiah 41:16
- 8 Isaiah 3:25–4:1; Luke 21:35; Jeremiah 4:16; Jeremiah 6:4–5; Jeremiah 5:6
- 9 1 Samuel 2:5; Isaiah 47:9; Lamentations 1:1; Amos 8:9–10; Jeremiah 21:7
- 10 Luke 6:22; Job 3:1–26; Psalm 120:5–6; Acts 17:6–8; Luke 2:34
- 11 Proverbs 16:7; Jeremiah 29:11–14; Psalm 106:46; Psalm 37:3–11; Ecclesiastes 8:12
- 12 Habakkuk 1:5–10; Job 40:9; Jeremiah 21:4–5; Isaiah 45:9; Jeremiah 1:18–19
- 13 Jeremiah 17:3; Psalm 44:12; Isaiah 52:3; Jeremiah 20:5; Jeremiah 15:8
- 14 Deuteronomy 32:22; Jeremiah 16:13; Jeremiah 17:4; Deuteronomy 28:36; Psalm 21:9
- 15 Jeremiah 12:3; Psalm 69:7–9; Luke 21:17; Jeremiah 17:16; Jeremiah 20:12
- 16 Revelation 10:9–10; Ezekiel 3:1–3; Psalm 119:101–103; Job 23:12; Psalm 19:10
- 17 Lamentations 3:28; Psalm 1:1; Psalm 26:4–5; Ezekiel 3:24–25; 2 Corinthians 6:17
- 18 Jeremiah 30:15; Job 34:6; Micah 1:9; Jeremiah 14:19; Jeremiah 20:7
- 19 Zechariah 3:7; Luke 21:15; Leviticus 10:10; Ezekiel 44:23; Ezekiel 22:26
- 20 Jeremiah 1:18–19; Ezekiel 3:9; Psalm 46:7; Isaiah 8:9–10; Acts 18:9–10
- 21 2 Corinthians 1:10; Isaiah 49:24–25; Jeremiah 50:34; Isaiah 54:17; Genesis 48:16
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… Jerusalem: "She that hath born [seven] languisheth; her soul hath become weary; her sun hath gone down while it was yet noon; she hath been confounded, and suffered reproach: the remainder of them will I give to the sword in the sight of their enemies."
For ye, who "take forth the precious from the vile," have been made the mouth of God, through which He saith, "Let the waters bring forth," not the living creature which the earth bringeth forth, but the moving creature having life, and the fowls that fly above the earth.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
Hear, for example, what God saith unto this last, "Pray not thou for this people, for I will not hear thee." And why marvellest thou if I hear not thee? "Though Moses himself and Samuel stood before me," I would not receive their supplication for these men." Yea, if it be Ezekiel who entreats, he will be told, "Though Noah …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
And these things God Himself saith; "For he that bringeth out the precious from the vile, shall be as my mouth;" such are His words.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)