Jeremiah Shares Israel’s Misery
I am the man who has aseen miseryBecause of the rod of His wrath.Ps 88:7, 15, 162 He has driven me and made me walkIn adarkness and not in light.Job 30:26; Is 59:9; Jer 4:233 Indeed, He has aturned His hand against meRepeatedly all the day.Ps 38:2; Is 5:254 He has consumed my aflesh and my skin,He has bbroken my bones.Ps 31:9, 10; 38:2-8; 102:3-5Ps 51:8; Is 38:135 He has 1abesieged and surrounded me with 2bbitterness and hardship.Lit built againstLit poisonJob 19:8Jer 23:15; Lam 3:196 He has made me live in adark places,Like those who have long been dead.Ps 88:5, 6; 143:37 He has awalled me in so that I cannot go out;He has made my 1bchain heavy.Lit bronze pieceJob 3:23; 19:8Jer 40:48 Even when I cry out and call for help,He ashuts out my prayer.Job 30:20; Ps 22:29 He has ablocked my ways with cut stone;He has twisted my paths.Is 63:17; Hos 2:610 He is to me like a bear lying in wait,Like a lion in secret places.11 He has made my ways deviate, and atorn me to pieces;He has made me desolate.Job 16:12, 13; Jer 15:3; Hos 6:112 He abent His bowAnd btook aim at me as a target for the arrow.Ps 7:12; Lam 2:4Job 6:4; 7:20; Ps 38:213 He made the 1arrows of His aquiverEnter my 2inward parts.Lit sonsLit kidneysJer 5:1614 I have become a alaughingstock to all my people,Their bsong of ridicule all the day.Ps 22:6, 7; 123:4; Jer 20:7Job 30:9; Lam 3:6315 He has afilled me with bitterness,He has made me drink plenty of wormwood.Jer 9:1516 He has also amade my teeth grind with bgravel;He has made me cower in the cdust.Ps 3:7; 58:6Prov 20:17Jer 6:2617 My soul has been excluded afrom peace;I have forgotten 1happiness.Lit goodIs 59:11; Jer 12:1218 So I say, “My 1strength has failed,And so has my ahope from the LORD.”Or splendorJob 17:15; Ezek 37:11
Hope of Relief in God’s Mercy
19 Remember my misery and my homelessness, the awormwood and 1bitterness.Lit poisonJer 9:15; Lam 3:5, 1520 aMy soul certainly remembers,And 1is bbent over within me.Or bows downJob 21:6Ps 42:5, 6, 11; 43:5; 44:2521 I recall this to my mind,Therefore I 1await.Or have hopePs 130:722 1The LORD’S aacts of mercy indeed do not end,bFor His compassions do not fail.As in ancient versions; MT It is...mercy that we do not endPs 78:38; Jer 3:12; 30:11Mal 3:623 They are new aevery morning;Great is bYour faithfulness.Is 33:2; Zeph 3:5Heb 10:2324 “The LORD is my aportion,” says my soul,“Therefore I 1bwait for Him.”Or hope inPs 16:5; 73:26Ps 33:1825 The LORD is good to those who 1aawait Him,To the 2person who bseeks Him.Or hope inLit soulPs 27:14; Is 25:9Is 26:926 It is good that he awaits silentlyFor the salvation of the LORD.Ps 37:727 It is good for a man to bearThe yoke in his youth.28 Let him asit alone and keep quiet,Since He has laid it on him.Jer 15:1729 Let him 1put his mouth in the adust;Perhaps there is bhope.Lit giveJob 16:15; 40:4Jer 31:1730 Let him give his acheek to the one who is going to strike him;Let him be filled with shame.Job 16:10; Is 50:631 For the Lord will anot reject forever,Ps 77:7; 94:14; Is 54:7-1032 For if He causes grief,Then He will have acompassionIn proportion to His abundant mercy.Ps 78:38; 106:43-45; Hos 11:833 For He adoes not 1afflict 2willinglyOr 3grieve the sons of mankind.Or oppressLit from His heartOr tormentPs 119:67, 71, 75; Ezek 33:11; Heb 12:1034 To crush under 1one’s feetAll the prisoners of the 2land,Lit hisOr earth35 To 1deprive a man of ajusticeIn the presence of the Most High,Or turn aside a man’s casePs 140:12; Prov 17:1536 To 1adefraud someone in his lawsuit—Of these things the Lord does not 2approve.Lit bendLit seeJer 22:3; Hab 1:1337 Who is 1there who speaks and it acomes to pass,Unless the Lord has commanded it?Lit thisPs 33:9-1138 Is it not from the mouth of the Most HighThat 1aboth adversity and good proceed?Lit the evil things and the goodJob 2:10; Is 45:7; Jer 32:42
39 Of what can any living 1mortal, or any man,aComplain 2in view of his sins?Or human beingOr on the basis ofJer 30:15; Mic 7:9; Heb 12:5, 640 Let’s aexamine and search out our ways,And let’s return to the LORD.Ps 119:59; 139:23, 24; 2 Cor 13:541 We araise our heart 1and handsToward God in heaven;Lit toward ourPs 25:1; 28:2; 141:242 We have adone wrong and rebelled;You have bnot pardoned.Neh 9:26; Jer 14:20; Dan 9:52 Kin 24:4; Jer 5:7, 943 You have covered Yourself with aangerAnd bpursued us;You have slain and chave not spared.Lam 2:21Ps 83:15; Lam 3:66Lam 2:2, 17, 2144 You have aveiled Yourself with a cloudSo that bno prayer can pass through.Ps 97:2Lam 3:8; Zech 7:1345 You have made us mere arefuse and rubbishIn the midst of the peoples.1 Cor 4:1346 All our enemies have aopened their mouths against us.Job 30:9, 10; Ps 22:6-8; Lam 2:1647 aPanic and pitfall have come upon us,Devastation and destruction;Is 24:17, 18; Jer 48:43, 4448 My 1aeyes run down with streams of waterBecause of the destruction of the daughter of my people.Lit eye goes downPs 119:136; Jer 9:1, 18; Lam 1:16; 2:11, 1849 My eyes flow aunceasingly,Without stopping,Ps 77:2; Jer 14:1750 Until the LORD alooks downAnd sees from heaven.Ps 80:14; Is 63:15; Lam 5:151 My eyes bring pain to my soulBecause of all the daughters of my city.52 My enemies awithout reasonHunted me down blike a bird;Ps 35:7, 191 Sam 26:20; Ps 11:1; 124:753 They have silenced 1me ain the pitAnd have 2bthrown stones on me.Lit my lifeOr thrown a stoneJer 37:16; 38:6, 9Dan 6:1754 Waters flowed aover my head;I said, “I am 1cut off!”Or destroyedPs 69:2; Jon 2:3-555 I acalled on Your name, LORD,Out of the lowest pit.Ps 130:1; Jon 2:256 You have aheard my voice,“bDo not cover Your ear from my plea for relief,From my cry for help.”Job 34:28Ps 55:157 You acame near on the day I called to You;You said, “bDo not fear!”Ps 145:18Is 41:10, 1458 Lord, You ahave pleaded my soul’s cause;You have bredeemed my life.Jer 50:34Ps 34:2259 LORD, You have aseen my oppression;bJudge my case.Jer 18:19, 20Ps 26:1; 43:160 You have seen all their vengeance,All their aschemes against me.Jer 11:1961 You have heard their areproach, LORD,All their schemes against me.Ps 74:18; 89:50; Lam 5:1; Zeph 2:862 The alips of my assailants and their talkAre against me all day long.Ps 59:7, 12; 140:3; Ezek 36:363 Look at their 1asitting and their rising;bI am their mocking song.I.e., daily activitiesPs 139:2Job 30:9; Lam 3:1464 You will arepay them, LORD,In accordance with the work of their hands.Ps 28:4; Jer 51:6, 24, 5665 You will give them 1ashamelessness of heart,Your curse will be on them.Or insanityEx 14:8; Deut 2:30; Is 6:1066 You will apursue them in anger and eliminate themFrom under the bheavens of the LORD!Lam 3:43Ps 8:3