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Selected Verse: Jeremiah 18:18 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Jer 18:18	Strong Concordance	Then said [0559] they, Come [03212], and let us devise [02803] devices [04284] against Jeremiah [03414]; for the law [08451] shall not perish [06] from the priest [03548], nor counsel [06098] from the wise [02450], nor the word [01697] from the prophet [05030]. Come [03212], and let us smite [05221] him with the tongue [03956], and let us not give heed [07181] to any of his words [01697].
	King James	Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
(Jer 11:19). Let us bring a capital charge against him, as a false prophet; "for (whereas he foretells that this land shall be left without priests to teach the law, Mal 2:7; without scribes to explain its difficulties; and without prophets to reveal God's will), the law shall not perish from the prophet," &c.; since God has made these a lasting institution in His church, and the law declares they shall never perish (Lev 6:18; Lev 10:11; compare Jer 5:12) [GROTIUS]. the wise--scribes and elders joined to the priests. Perhaps they mean to say, we must have right on our side, in spite of Jeremiah's words against us and our prophets (Jer 28:15-16; Jer 29:25, Jer 29:32; Jer 5:31); "for the law shall not perish," &c. I prefer GROTIUS' explanation. with . . . tongue--by a false accusation (Psa 57:4; Psa 64:3; Psa 12:4; Psa 50:19). "For the tongue" (Margin), that is, for his speaking against us. "In the tongue," that is, let us kill him, that he may speak no more against us [CASTALIO].

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

(Jer 11:19). Let us bring a capital charge against him, as a false prophet; "for (whereas he foretells that this land shall be left without priests to teach the law, Mal 2:7; without scribes to explain its difficulties; and without prophets to reveal God's will), the law shall not perish from the prophet," &c.; since God has made these a lasting institution in His church, and the law declares they shall never perish (Lev 6:18; Lev 10:11; compare Jer 5:12) [GROTIUS].

the wise--scribes and elders joined to the priests. Perhaps they mean to say, we must have right on our side, in spite of Jeremiah's words against us and our prophets (Jer 28:15-16; Jer 29:25, Jer 29:32; Jer 5:31); "for the law shall not perish," &c. I prefer GROTIUS' explanation.

with . . . tongue--by a false accusation (Psa 57:4; Psa 64:3; Psa 12:4; Psa 50:19). "For the tongue" (Margin), that is, for his speaking against us. "In the tongue," that is, let us kill him, that he may speak no more against us [CASTALIO].

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
The Jews were only hardened by the foregoing prophecy, and determined to compass Jeremiah's death. Let us devise devices - i. e., "deliberately frame a plot" for his ruin (see Jer 18:11 note). The law shall not perish ... - As the Law of Moses was imperishable, the people probably drew the conclusion that the Levitical priesthood must also endure forever, and therefore that Jeremiah's predictions of national ruin were blasphemous (compare Act 6:13-14). Let us smite him with the tongue - Their purpose was to carry a malicious report of what he had said to king Jehoiakim, and so stir up his anger against him.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
Enmity displayed against the prophet by the people for this discourse, and prayer for protection from his enemies. - Jer 18:18. "Then said they: Come and let us plot schemes against Jeremiah; for law shall not be lost to the priest, and counsel to the wise, and speech to the prophet. Come and let us smite him with the tongue and not give heed to all his speeches. Jer 18:19. Give heed to me, Jahveh, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me! Jer 18:20. Shall evil be repaid for good, that they dig a pit for my soul? Remember how I stood before Thee to speak good for them, to turn away Thy wrath from them! Jer 18:21. Therefore give their sons to the famine and deliver them to the sword, that their wives become childless and widows, and their men slaughtered by death, their young men smitten by the sword in battle. Jer 18:22. Let a cry be heard from their houses, when Thou bringest troops upon them suddenly; for they have digged a pit to take me and laid snares for my feet. Jer 18:23. But Thou Jahveh knowest all their counsels against me for death: forgive not their iniquity and blot not out their sin from before Thy face, that they be overthrown before Thee; in the time of Thine anger deal with them." Even the solemn words (Jer 18:15-17) of the prophet were in vain. Instead of examining themselves and reforming their lives, the blinded sinners resolve to put the troublesome preacher of repentance out of the way by means of false charges. The subject of "and they said" is those who had heard the above discourse; not all, of course, but the infatuated leaders of the people who had. They call on the multitude to plot schemes against him, cf. Jer 11:18. For they have, as they think, priests, wise men, and prophets to give them instruction out of the law, counsel, and word, i.e., prophecy - namely, according to their idea, such as advise, teach, and preach otherwise than Jeremiah, who speaks only of repentance and judgment. Recent scholars render תּורה doctrine, which is right etymologically, but not so when judged by the constant usage, which regards the Torah, the law, as containing the substance of all the doctrine needed by man to tell him how to bear himself towards God, or to make his life happy. The Mosaic law is the foundation of all prophetic preaching; and that the speakers mean תּורה in this sense is clear from their claiming the knowledge of the Torah as belonging to the priests; the law was committed to the keeping and administration of the priests. The "counsel" is that needed for the conduct of the state in difficult circumstances, and in Eze 7:26 it is attributed to the elders; and "speech" or word is the declarations of the prophets. On that subject, cf. Jer 8:8-10. To smite with the tongue is to ruin by slanders and malicious charges, cf. Jer 9:2, Jer 9:4,Jer 9:7, where the tongue is compared to a lying bow and deadly arrow, Psa 64:4., Psa 59:8, etc. That they had the prophet's death in view appears from Jer 18:23; although their further speech: We will not give heed to his words, shows that in the discourse against which they were so enraged, he had said "nothing that, according to their ideas, was directly and immediately punishable with death" (Hitz.); cf. Jer 26:6, Jer 26:11. Against these schemes Jeremiah cries to God in Jer 18:19 for help and protection. While his adversaries are saying: People should give no heed to his speeches, he prays the Lord to give heed to him and to listen to the sayings of his enemies. "My contenders," who contend against me, cf. Jer 35:1; Isa 49:25. - In support of his prayer he says in Jer 18:20 : Shall evil be repaid for good? cf. Psa 35:12. In his discourses he had in view nothing but the good of the people, and he appeals to the prayers he had presented to the Lord to turn away God's anger from the people, cf. Jer 14:7., Jer 18:19-22. (On "my standing before Thee," cf. Jer 15:1.) This good they seek to repay with ill, by lying charges to dig a pit for his soul, i.e., for his life, into which pit he may fall; cf. Psa 57:7, where, however, instead of שׁוּחה (Jer 2:6; Pro 22:14; Pro 23:27), we have שׁיחה, as in Jer 18:22, Chet. - He prays the Lord to requite them for this wickedness by bringing on the people that which Jeremiah had sought to avert, by destroying them with famine, sword, and disease. The various kinds of death are, Jer 18:21, distributed rhetorically amongst the different classes of the people. The sons, i.e., children, are to be given up to the famine, the men to the sword, the young men to the sword in war. The suffix on הגּרם refers to the people, of which the children are mentioned before, the men and women after. On הגּר על ידי ח, cf. Eze 35:5; Psa 63:11. "Death," mentioned alongside of sword and famine, is death by disease and pestilence, as in Jer 15:2. Jer 18:22 To the terrors of the war and the siege is to be added the cry rising from all the houses into which hostile troops have burst, plundering and massacring. To lay snares, as in Psa 140:6; Psa 142:4. פּח is the spring of the bird-catcher. Jer 18:23 Comprehensive summing up of the whole prayer. As the Lord knows their design against him for his death, he prays Him not to forgive their sin, but to punish it. The form תּמחי instead of תּמח (Neh 13:14) is the Aramaic form for תּמחה, like תּזני, Jer 3:6; cf. Ew. 224, c. The Chet. והיוּ is the regular continuation of the imperative: and let them be cast down before Thee. The Keri ויהיוּ would be: that they may be cast down before Thee. Hitz. wrongly expounds the Chet.: but let them be fallen before Thee (in Thine eyes), i.e., morally degraded sinners; for the question is not here one of moral degradation, but of the punishment of sinners. In the time of Thine anger, i.e., when Thou lettest loose Thy wrath, causest Thy judgments to come down, deal with them, i.e., with their transgressions. On עשׂה ב, cf. Dan 11:7. On this prayer of the prophet to God to exterminate his enemies Hitz. remarks: "The various curses which in his bitter indignation he directs against his enemies are at bottom but the expression of the thought: Now may all that befall them which I sought to avert from them." The Hirschberg Bible takes a deeper grasp of the matter: "It is no prayer of carnal vengeance against those that hated him, Jer 18:18, Jer 18:23, Psa 9:18; Psa 55:16; but as God had commanded him to desist (Jer 14:11, Jer 14:12) from the prayers he had frequently made for them, Jer 18:20, and as they themselves could not endure these prayers, Jer 18:18, he leaves them to God's judgments which he had been already compelled to predict to them, Jer 11:22; Jer 14:12, Jer 14:16, without any longer resisting with his entreaties, Luk 13:9; Ti2 4:14." In this observation that clause only is wrong which says Jeremiah merely leaves the wicked to God's judgments, since he, on the other hand, gives them up thereto, prays God to carry out judgment on them with the utmost severity. In this respect the present passage resembles the so-called cursing psalms (Psa 35:4-10; Psa 109:6-20; Psa 59:14-16; Psa 69:26-29, etc.); nor can we say with Calvin: hanc vehementiam, quoniam dictata fuit a spiritu sancto, non posse damnari, sed non debere trahi in exemplum, quia hoc singulare fuit in propheta. For the prophet's prayer is no inspired דבר יהוה, but the wish and utterance of his heart, for the fulfilment of which he cries to God; just as in the psalms cited. On these imprecations, cf. Del. on Ps 35 and 109; as also the solid investigation of this point by Kurtz: Zur Theologie der Ps. IV. die Fluch-und Rachepsalmen in the Dorpat Ztschr. f. Theol. u. Kirche, vii. (1865), S. 359ff. All these curses are not the outcome and effusions of personal vengeance against enemies, but flow from the pure spring of a zeal, not self-regarding at all, for the glory of God. The enemies are God's enemies, despisers of His salvation. Their hostility against David and against Jeremiah was rooted in their hostility against God and the kingdom of God. The advancement of the kingdom of God, the fulfilment of the divine scheme of salvation, required the fall of the ungodly who seek the lives of God's servants. In this way we would seek to defend such words of cursing by appealing to the legal spirit of the Old Testament, and would not oppose them to the words of Christ, Luk 9:55. For Christ tells us why He blamed the Elias-like zeal of His disciples in the words: "The Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." In keeping with this, the peculiar end of Christ's coming on earth, we find no curses from Him against His enemies and the enemies of the kingdom of God. But just as the word, "I am not come," etc. (Luk 9:56), does not exclude the truth that the Father hath given all judgment to Him, so, as Kurtz very justly remarks, "from our hearing no word of cursing from the mouth of Christ during His life on earth we cannot infer the absolute inadmissibleness of all such; still less can we infer that Christ's apostles and disciples could not at all be justified in using any words of cursing." And the apostles have indeed uttered curses against obdurate enemies: so Peter against Simon the Magian, Act 8:20; Paul against the high priest Ananias, Act 23:3, against the Jewish false teachers, Gal 1:9 and Gal 5:12, and against Alexander the coppersmith, Ti2 4:14. But these cases do not annihilate the distinction between the Old and the New Testaments. Since grace and truth have been revealed in Christ, the Old Testament standpoint of retribution according to the rigour of the law cannot be for us the standard of our bearing even towards the enemies of Christ and His kingdom.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

Enmity displayed against the prophet by the people for this discourse, and prayer for protection from his enemies. - Jer 18:18. "Then said they: Come and let us plot schemes against Jeremiah; for law shall not be lost to the priest, and counsel to the wise, and speech to the prophet. Come and let us smite him with the tongue and not give heed to all his speeches. Jer 18:19. Give heed to me, Jahveh, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me! Jer 18:20. Shall evil be repaid for good, that they dig a pit for my soul? Remember how I stood before Thee to speak good for them, to turn away Thy wrath from them! Jer 18:21. Therefore give their sons to the famine and deliver them to the sword, that their wives become childless and widows, and their men slaughtered by death, their young men smitten by the sword in battle. Jer 18:22. Let a cry be heard from their houses, when Thou bringest troops upon them suddenly; for they have digged a pit to take me and laid snares for my feet. Jer 18:23. But Thou Jahveh knowest all their counsels against me for death: forgive not their iniquity and blot not out their sin from before Thy face, that they be overthrown before Thee; in the time of Thine anger deal with them."

Even the solemn words (Jer 18:15-17) of the prophet were in vain. Instead of examining themselves and reforming their lives, the blinded sinners resolve to put the troublesome preacher of repentance out of the way by means of false charges. The subject of "and they said" is those who had heard the above discourse; not all, of course, but the infatuated leaders of the people who had. They call on the multitude to plot schemes against him, cf. Jer 11:18. For they have, as they think, priests, wise men, and prophets to give them instruction out of the law, counsel, and word, i.e., prophecy - namely, according to their idea, such as advise, teach, and preach otherwise than Jeremiah, who speaks only of repentance and judgment. Recent scholars render תּורה doctrine, which is right etymologically, but not so when judged by the constant usage, which regards the Torah, the law, as containing the substance of all the doctrine needed by man to tell him how to bear himself towards God, or to make his life happy. The Mosaic law is the foundation of all prophetic preaching; and that the speakers mean תּורה in this sense is clear from their claiming the knowledge of the Torah as belonging to the priests; the law was committed to the keeping and administration of the priests. The "counsel" is that needed for the conduct of the state in difficult circumstances, and in Eze 7:26 it is attributed to the elders; and "speech" or word is the declarations of the prophets. On that subject, cf. Jer 8:8-10. To smite with the tongue is to ruin by slanders and malicious charges, cf. Jer 9:2, Jer 9:4,Jer 9:7, where the tongue is compared to a lying bow and deadly arrow, Psa 64:4., Psa 59:8, etc. That they had the prophet's death in view appears from Jer 18:23; although their further speech: We will not give heed to his words, shows that in the discourse against which they were so enraged, he had said "nothing that, according to their ideas, was directly and immediately punishable with death" (Hitz.); cf. Jer 26:6, Jer 26:11. Against these schemes Jeremiah cries to God in Jer 18:19 for help and protection. While his adversaries are saying: People should give no heed to his speeches, he prays the Lord to give heed to him and to listen to the sayings of his enemies. "My contenders," who contend against me, cf. Jer 35:1; Isa 49:25. - In support of his prayer he says in Jer 18:20 : Shall evil be repaid for good? cf. Psa 35:12. In his discourses he had in view nothing but the good of the people, and he appeals to the prayers he had presented to the Lord to turn away God's anger from the people, cf. Jer 14:7., Jer 18:19-22. (On "my standing before Thee," cf. Jer 15:1.) This good they seek to repay with ill, by lying charges to dig a pit for his soul, i.e., for his life, into which pit he may fall; cf. Psa 57:7, where, however, instead of שׁוּחה (Jer 2:6; Pro 22:14; Pro 23:27), we have שׁיחה, as in Jer 18:22, Chet. - He prays the Lord to requite them for this wickedness by bringing on the people that which Jeremiah had sought to avert, by destroying them with famine, sword, and disease. The various kinds of death are, Jer 18:21, distributed rhetorically amongst the different classes of the people. The sons, i.e., children, are to be given up to the famine, the men to the sword, the young men to the sword in war. The suffix on הגּרם refers to the people, of which the children are mentioned before, the men and women after. On הגּר על ידי ח, cf. Eze 35:5; Psa 63:11. "Death," mentioned alongside of sword and famine, is death by disease and pestilence, as in Jer 15:2.

Jer 18:22

To the terrors of the war and the siege is to be added the cry rising from all the houses into which hostile troops have burst, plundering and massacring. To lay snares, as in Psa 140:6; Psa 142:4. פּח is the spring of the bird-catcher.

Jer 18:23

Comprehensive summing up of the whole prayer. As the Lord knows their design against him for his death, he prays Him not to forgive their sin, but to punish it. The form תּמחי instead of תּמח (Neh 13:14) is the Aramaic form for תּמחה, like תּזני, Jer 3:6; cf. Ew. 224, c. The Chet. והיוּ is the regular continuation of the imperative: and let them be cast down before Thee. The Keri ויהיוּ would be: that they may be cast down before Thee. Hitz. wrongly expounds the Chet.: but let them be fallen before Thee (in Thine eyes), i.e., morally degraded sinners; for the question is not here one of moral degradation, but of the punishment of sinners. In the time of Thine anger, i.e., when Thou lettest loose Thy wrath, causest Thy judgments to come down, deal with them, i.e., with their transgressions. On עשׂה ב, cf. Dan 11:7.

On this prayer of the prophet to God to exterminate his enemies Hitz. remarks: "The various curses which in his bitter indignation he directs against his enemies are at bottom but the expression of the thought: Now may all that befall them which I sought to avert from them." The Hirschberg Bible takes a deeper grasp of the matter: "It is no prayer of carnal vengeance against those that hated him, Jer 18:18, Jer 18:23, Psa 9:18; Psa 55:16; but as God had commanded him to desist (Jer 14:11, Jer 14:12) from the prayers he had frequently made for them, Jer 18:20, and as they themselves could not endure these prayers, Jer 18:18, he leaves them to God's judgments which he had been already compelled to predict to them, Jer 11:22; Jer 14:12, Jer 14:16, without any longer resisting with his entreaties, Luk 13:9; Ti2 4:14." In this observation that clause only is wrong which says Jeremiah merely leaves the wicked to God's judgments, since he, on the other hand, gives them up thereto, prays God to carry out judgment on them with the utmost severity. In this respect the present passage resembles the so-called cursing psalms (Psa 35:4-10; Psa 109:6-20; Psa 59:14-16; Psa 69:26-29, etc.); nor can we say with Calvin: hanc vehementiam, quoniam dictata fuit a spiritu sancto, non posse damnari, sed non debere trahi in exemplum, quia hoc singulare fuit in propheta. For the prophet's prayer is no inspired דבר יהוה, but the wish and utterance of his heart, for the fulfilment of which he cries to God; just as in the psalms cited. On these imprecations, cf. Del. on Ps 35 and 109; as also the solid investigation of this point by Kurtz: Zur Theologie der Ps. IV. die Fluch-und Rachepsalmen in the Dorpat Ztschr. f. Theol. u. Kirche, vii. (1865), S. 359ff. All these curses are not the outcome and effusions of personal vengeance against enemies, but flow from the pure spring of a zeal, not self-regarding at all, for the glory of God. The enemies are God's enemies, despisers of His salvation. Their hostility against David and against Jeremiah was rooted in their hostility against God and the kingdom of God. The advancement of the kingdom of God, the fulfilment of the divine scheme of salvation, required the fall of the ungodly who seek the lives of God's servants. In this way we would seek to defend such words of cursing by appealing to the legal spirit of the Old Testament, and would not oppose them to the words of Christ, Luk 9:55. For Christ tells us why He blamed the Elias-like zeal of His disciples in the words: "The Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." In keeping with this, the peculiar end of Christ's coming on earth, we find no curses from Him against His enemies and the enemies of the kingdom of God. But just as the word, "I am not come," etc. (Luk 9:56), does not exclude the truth that the Father hath given all judgment to Him, so, as Kurtz very justly remarks, "from our hearing no word of cursing from the mouth of Christ during His life on earth we cannot infer the absolute inadmissibleness of all such; still less can we infer that Christ's apostles and disciples could not at all be justified in using any words of cursing." And the apostles have indeed uttered curses against obdurate enemies: so Peter against Simon the Magian, Act 8:20; Paul against the high priest Ananias, Act 23:3, against the Jewish false teachers, Gal 1:9 and Gal 5:12, and against Alexander the coppersmith, Ti2 4:14. But these cases do not annihilate the distinction between the Old and the New Testaments. Since grace and truth have been revealed in Christ, the Old Testament standpoint of retribution according to the rigour of the law cannot be for us the standard of our bearing even towards the enemies of Christ and His kingdom.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
For - We have the church on our side; the regular priests and the prophets, they know God's mind as well as he. Let us smite him with the tongue - Expose him, representing him to be what the people hate.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Come, and let us devise devices - Let us form a conspiracy against him, accuse him of being a false prophet, and a contradicter of the words of God, for God has promised us protection, and he says we shall be destroyed, and that God will forsake his people. Let us smite him with the tongue - On the tongue; so it should be rendered. Lying and false testimony are punished in the eastern countries, to the present day, by smiting the person on the mouth with a strong piece of leather like the sole of a shoe. Sometimes a bodkin is run through the tongue. Blasphemy, calumny, and cursing of parents, are usually punished in that way among the Chinese.

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¹⁹ Thou givest [07971] thy mouth [06310] to evil [07451], and thy tongue [03956] frameth [06775] deceit [04820].

⁴ Who have said [0559], With our tongue [03956] will we prevail [01396]; our lips [08193] are our own: who is lord [0113] over us?

³ Who whet [08150] their tongue [03956] like a sword [02719], and bend [01869] their bows to shoot their arrows [02671], even bitter [04751] words [01697]:

⁴ My soul [05315] is among [08432] lions [03833]: and I lie [07901] even among them that are set on fire [03857], even the sons [01121] of men [0120], whose teeth [08127] are spears [02595] and arrows [02671], and their tongue [03956] a sharp [02299] sword [02719].

³¹ The prophets [05030] prophesy [05012] falsely [08267], and the priests [03548] bear rule [07287] by their means [03027]; and my people [05971] love [0157] to have it so: and what will ye do [06213] in the end [0319] thereof?

³² Therefore thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068]; Behold, I will punish [06485] Shemaiah [08098] the Nehelamite [05161], and his seed [02233]: he shall not have a man [0376] to dwell [03427] among [08432] this people [05971]; neither shall he behold [07200] the good [02896] that I will do [06213] for my people [05971], saith [05002] the LORD [03068]; because he hath taught [01696] rebellion [05627] against the LORD [03068].

²⁵ Thus speaketh [0559] the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635], the God [0430] of Israel [03478], saying [0559], Because thou hast sent [07971] letters [05612] in thy name [08034] unto all the people [05971] that are at Jerusalem [03389], and to Zephaniah [06846] the son [01121] of Maaseiah [04641] the priest [03548], and to all the priests [03548], saying [0559],

¹⁵ Then said [0559] the prophet [05030] Jeremiah [03414] unto Hananiah [02608] the prophet [05030], Hear [08085] now, Hananiah [02608]; The LORD [03068] hath not sent [07971] thee; but thou makest this people [05971] to trust [0982] in a lie [08267].
¹⁶ Therefore thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068]; Behold, I will cast [07971] thee from off the face [06440] of the earth [0127]: this year [08141] thou shalt die [04191], because thou hast taught [01696] rebellion [05627] against the LORD [03068].

¹² They have belied [03584] the LORD [03068], and said [0559], It is not he; neither shall evil [07451] come [0935] upon us; neither shall we see [07200] sword [02719] nor famine [07458]:

¹¹ And that ye may teach [03384] the children [01121] of Israel [03478] all the statutes [02706] which the LORD [03068] hath spoken [01696] unto them by the hand [03027] of Moses [04872].

¹⁸ All the males [02145] among the children [01121] of Aaron [0175] shall eat [0398] of it. It shall be a statute [02706] for ever [05769] in your generations [01755] concerning the offerings [0801] of the LORD [03068] made by fire [0801]: every one that toucheth [05060] them shall be holy [06942].

⁷ For the priest's [03548] lips [08193] should keep [08104] knowledge [01847], and they should seek [01245] the law [08451] at his mouth [06310]: for he is the messenger [04397] of the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635].

¹⁹ But I was like a lamb [03532] or an ox [0441] that is brought [02986] to the slaughter [02873]; and I knew [03045] not that they had devised [02803] devices [04284] against me, saying, Let us destroy [07843] the tree [06086] with the fruit [03899] thereof, and let us cut him off [03772] from the land [0776] of the living [02416], that his name [08034] may be no more remembered [02142].

¹³ And [5037] set up [2476] false [5571] witnesses [3144], which said [3004], This [5127] man [444] ceaseth [3973] not [3756] to speak [2980] blasphemous [989] words [4487] against [2596] this [3778] holy [40] place [5117], and [2532] the law [3551]:
¹⁴ For [1063] we have heard [191] him [846] say [3004], that [3754] this [5126] Jesus [2424] of Nazareth [3480] shall destroy [2647] this [3778] place [5117], and [2532] shall change [236] the customs [1485] which [3739] Moses [3475] delivered [3860] us [2254].

¹¹ Now therefore go to, speak [0559] to the men [0376] of Judah [03063], and to the inhabitants [03427] of Jerusalem [03389], saying [0559], Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068]; Behold, I frame [03335] evil [07451] against you, and devise [02803] a device [04284] against you: return [07725] ye now every one [0376] from his evil [07451] way [01870], and make your ways [01870] and your doings [04611] good [03190].

¹⁴ Alexander [223] the coppersmith [5471] did [1731] me [3427] much [4183] evil [2556]: the Lord [2962] reward [591] him [846] according to [2596] his [846] works [2041]:

¹² I would [3785] they were [609] even [2532] cut off [609] which trouble [387] you [5209].

⁹ As [5613] we said before [4280], so [2532] say I [3004] now [737] again [3825], If any [1536] man preach [2097] any other [3844] gospel [2097] unto you [5209] than [3844] that [3739] ye have received [3880], let him be [2077] accursed [331].

³ Then [5119] said [2036] Paul [3972] unto [4314] him [846], God [2316] shall [3195] smite [5180] thee [4571], thou whited [2867] wall [5109]: for [2532] sittest [2521] thou [4771] to judge [2919] me [3165] after [2596] the law [3551], and [2532] commandest [2753] me [3165] to be smitten [5180] contrary to the law [3891]?

²⁰ But [1161] Peter [4074] said [2036] unto [4314] him [846], Thy [4675] money [694] perish [1498] [1519] [684] with [4862] thee [4671], because [3754] thou hast thought [3543] that the gift [1431] of God [2316] may be purchased [2932] with [1223] money [5536].

⁵⁶ For [1063] the Son [5207] of man [444] is [2064] not [3756] come [2064] to destroy [622] men's [444] lives [5590], but [235] to save [4982] them. And [2532] they went [4198] to [1519] another [2087] village [2968].

⁵⁵ But [1161] he turned [4762], and rebuked [2008] them [846], and [2532] said [2036], Ye know [1492] not [3756] what manner [3634] of spirit [4151] ye [5210] are of [2075].

²⁶ For they persecute [07291] him whom thou hast smitten [05221]; and they talk [05608] to the grief [04341] of those whom thou hast wounded [02491].
²⁷ Add [05414] iniquity [05771] unto their iniquity [05771]: and let them not come [0935] into thy righteousness [06666].
²⁸ Let them be blotted [04229] out of the book [05612] of the living [02416], and not be written [03789] with the righteous [06662].
²⁹ But I am poor [06041] and sorrowful [03510]: let thy salvation [03444], O God [0430], set me up on high [07682].

¹⁴ And at evening [06153] let them return [07725]; and let them make a noise [01993] like a dog [03611], and go round about [05437] the city [05892].
¹⁵ Let them wander up and down [05128] [05128] for meat [0398], and grudge [03885] if they be not satisfied [07646].
¹⁶ But I will sing [07891] of thy power [05797]; yea, I will sing aloud [07442] of thy mercy [02617] in the morning [01242]: for thou hast been my defence [04869] and refuge [04498] in the day [03117] of my trouble [06862].

⁶ Set [06485] thou a wicked man [07563] over him: and let Satan [07854] stand [05975] at his right hand [03225].
⁷ When he shall be judged [08199], let him be [03318] condemned [07563]: and let his prayer [08605] become sin [02401].
⁸ Let his days [03117] be few [04592]; and let another [0312] take [03947] his office [06486].
⁹ Let his children [01121] be fatherless [03490], and his wife [0802] a widow [0490].
¹⁰ Let his children [01121] be continually [05128] vagabonds [05128], and beg [07592]: let them seek [01875] their bread also out of their desolate places [02723].
¹¹ Let the extortioner [05383] catch [05367] all that he hath; and let the strangers [02114] spoil [0962] his labour [03018].
¹² Let there be none to extend [04900] mercy [02617] unto him: neither let there be any to favour [02603] his fatherless children [03490].
¹³ Let his posterity [0319] be cut off [03772]; and in the generation [01755] following [0312] let their name [08034] be blotted out [04229].
¹⁴ Let the iniquity [05771] of his fathers [01] be remembered [02142] with the LORD [03068]; and let not the sin [02403] of his mother [0517] be blotted out [04229].
¹⁵ Let them be before the LORD [03068] continually [08548], that he may cut off [03772] the memory [02143] of them from the earth [0776].
¹⁶ Because that he remembered [02142] not to shew [06213] mercy [02617], but persecuted [07291] the poor [06041] and needy [034] man [0376], that he might even slay [04191] the broken [03512] in heart [03824].
¹⁷ As he loved [0157] cursing [07045], so let it come [0935] unto him: as he delighted [02654] not in blessing [01293], so let it be far [07368] from him.
¹⁸ As he clothed [03847] himself with cursing [07045] like as with his garment [04055], so let it come [0935] into his bowels [07130] like water [04325], and like oil [08081] into his bones [06106].
¹⁹ Let it be unto him as the garment [0899] which covereth [05844] him, and for a girdle [04206] wherewith he is girded [02296] continually [08548].
²⁰ Let this be the reward [06468] of mine adversaries [07853] from the LORD [03068], and of them that speak [01696] evil [07451] against my soul [05315].

⁴ Let them be confounded [0954] and put to shame [03637] that seek [01245] after my soul [05315]: let them be turned [05472] back [0268] and brought to confusion [02659] that devise [02803] my hurt [07451].
⁵ Let them be as chaff [04671] before [06440] the wind [07307]: and let the angel [04397] of the LORD [03068] chase [01760] them.
⁶ Let their way [01870] be dark [02822] and slippery [02519]: and let the angel [04397] of the LORD [03068] persecute [07291] them.
⁷ For without cause [02600] have they hid [02934] for me their net [07568] in a pit [07845], which without cause [02600] they have digged [02658] for my soul [05315].
⁸ Let destruction [07722] come [0935] upon him at unawares [03045] [03808]; and let his net [07568] that he hath hid [02934] catch [03920] himself: into that very destruction [07722] let him fall [05307].
⁹ And my soul [05315] shall be joyful [01523] in the LORD [03068]: it shall rejoice [07797] in his salvation [03444].
¹⁰ All my bones [06106] shall say [0559], LORD [03068], who is like unto thee, which deliverest [05337] the poor [06041] from him that is too strong [02389] for him, yea, the poor [06041] and the needy [034] from him that spoileth [01497] him?

¹⁴ Alexander [223] the coppersmith [5471] did [1731] me [3427] much [4183] evil [2556]: the Lord [2962] reward [591] him [846] according to [2596] his [846] works [2041]:

⁹ And if [2579] [3303] it bear [4160] fruit [2590], well: and if not [1490], then after that [1519] [3195] thou shalt cut [1581] it [846] down [1581].

¹⁶ And the people [05971] to whom they prophesy [05012] shall be cast out [07993] in the streets [02351] of Jerusalem [03389] because [06440] of the famine [07458] and the sword [02719]; and they shall have none to bury [06912] them [01992], them, their wives [0802], nor their sons [01121], nor their daughters [01323]: for I will pour [08210] their wickedness [07451] upon them.

¹² When they fast [06684], I will not hear [08085] their cry [07440]; and when they offer [05927] burnt offering [05930] and an oblation [04503], I will not accept [07521] them: but I will consume [03615] them by the sword [02719], and by the famine [07458], and by the pestilence [01698].

²² Therefore thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635], Behold, I will punish [06485] them: the young men [0970] shall die [04191] by the sword [02719]; their sons [01121] and their daughters [01323] shall die [04191] by famine [07458]:

¹⁸ Then said [0559] they, Come [03212], and let us devise [02803] devices [04284] against Jeremiah [03414]; for the law [08451] shall not perish [06] from the priest [03548], nor counsel [06098] from the wise [02450], nor the word [01697] from the prophet [05030]. Come [03212], and let us smite [05221] him with the tongue [03956], and let us not give heed [07181] to any of his words [01697].

²⁰ Shall evil [07451] be recompensed [07999] for good [02896]? for they have digged [03738] a pit [07745] for my soul [05315]. Remember [02142] that I stood [05975] before [06440] thee to speak [01696] good [02896] for them, and to turn away [07725] thy wrath [02534] from them.

¹¹ Then said [0559] the LORD [03068] unto me, Pray [06419] not for this people [05971] for their good [02896].

¹⁶ As for me, I will call [07121] upon God [0430]; and the LORD [03068] shall save [03467] me.

¹⁸ For the needy [034] shall not alway [05331] be forgotten [07911]: the expectation [08615] of the poor [06041] [06035] shall not perish [06] for ever [05703].

²³ Yet, LORD [03068], thou knowest [03045] all their counsel [06098] against me to slay [04194] me: forgive [03722] not their iniquity [05771], neither blot out [04229] their sin [02403] from thy sight [06440], but let them be overthrown [03782] before [06440] thee; deal [06213] thus with them in the time [06256] of thine anger [0639].

⁷ But out of a branch [05342] of her roots [08328] shall one stand up [05975] in his estate [03653], which shall come [0935] with an army [02428], and shall enter [0935] into the fortress [04581] of the king [04428] of the north [06828], and shall deal [06213] against them, and shall prevail [02388]:

⁶ The LORD [03068] said [0559] also unto me in the days [03117] of Josiah [02977] the king [04428], Hast thou seen [07200] that which backsliding [04878] Israel [03478] hath done [06213]? she is gone up [01980] upon every high [01364] mountain [02022] and under [08478] every green [07488] tree [06086], and there hath played the harlot [02181].

¹⁴ Remember [02142] me, O my God [0430], concerning this, and wipe not out [04229] my good [02617] deeds that I have done [06213] for the house [01004] of my God [0430], and for the offices [04929] thereof.

⁴ I looked [05027] on my right hand [03225], and beheld [07200], but there was no man that would know [05234] me: refuge [04498] failed [06] me; no man cared [01875] for my soul [05315].

⁶ I said [0559] unto the LORD [03068], Thou art my God [0410]: hear [0238] the voice [06963] of my supplications [08469], O LORD [03068].

²² Let a cry [02201] be heard [08085] from their houses [01004], when thou shalt bring [0935] a troop [01416] suddenly [06597] upon them: for they have digged [03738] a pit [07745] [07882] to take [03920] me, and hid [02934] snares [06341] for my feet [07272].

² And it shall come to pass, if they say [0559] unto thee, Whither shall we go forth [03318]? then thou shalt tell [0559] them, Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068]; Such as are for death [04194], to death [04194]; and such as are for the sword [02719], to the sword [02719]; and such as are for the famine [07458], to the famine [07458]; and such as are for the captivity [07628], to the captivity [07628].

¹¹ But the king [04428] shall rejoice [08055] in God [0430]; every one that sweareth [07650] by him shall glory [01984]: but the mouth [06310] of them that speak [01696] lies [08267] shall be stopped [05534].

⁵ Because thou hast had a perpetual [05769] hatred [0342], and hast shed [05064] the blood of the children [01121] of Israel [03478] by the force [03027] of the sword [02719] in the time [06256] of their calamity [0343], in the time [06256] that their iniquity [05771] had an end [07093]:

²¹ Therefore deliver up [05414] their children [01121] to the famine [07458], and pour out [05064] their blood by the force [03027] of the sword [02719]; and let their wives [0802] be bereaved [07909] of their children, and be widows [0490]; and let their men [0582] be put [02026] to death [04194]; let their young men [0970] be slain [05221] by the sword [02719] in battle [04421].

²⁷ For a whore [02181] is a deep [06013] ditch [07745]; and a strange woman [05237] is a narrow [06862] pit [0875].

¹⁴ The mouth [06310] of strange women [02114] is a deep [06013] pit [07745]: he that is abhorred [02194] of the LORD [03068] shall fall [05307] therein.

⁶ Neither said [0559] they, Where is the LORD [03068] that brought us up [05927] out of the land [0776] of Egypt [04714], that led [03212] us through the wilderness [04057], through a land [0776] of deserts [06160] and of pits [07745], through a land [0776] of drought [06723], and of the shadow of death [06757], through a land [0776] that no man [0376] passed through [05674], and where no man [0120] dwelt [03427]?

⁷ My heart [03820] is fixed [03559], O God [0430], my heart [03820] is fixed [03559]: I will sing [07891] and give praise [02167].

¹ Then said [0559] the LORD [03068] unto me, Though Moses [04872] and Samuel [08050] stood [05975] before [06440] me, yet my mind [05315] could not be toward this people [05971]: cast them out [07971] of my sight [06440], and let them go forth [03318].

¹⁹ Give heed [07181] to me, O LORD [03068], and hearken [08085] to the voice [06963] of them that contend [03401] with me.
²⁰ Shall evil [07451] be recompensed [07999] for good [02896]? for they have digged [03738] a pit [07745] for my soul [05315]. Remember [02142] that I stood [05975] before [06440] thee to speak [01696] good [02896] for them, and to turn away [07725] thy wrath [02534] from them.
²¹ Therefore deliver up [05414] their children [01121] to the famine [07458], and pour out [05064] their blood by the force [03027] of the sword [02719]; and let their wives [0802] be bereaved [07909] of their children, and be widows [0490]; and let their men [0582] be put [02026] to death [04194]; let their young men [0970] be slain [05221] by the sword [02719] in battle [04421].
²² Let a cry [02201] be heard [08085] from their houses [01004], when thou shalt bring [0935] a troop [01416] suddenly [06597] upon them: for they have digged [03738] a pit [07745] [07882] to take [03920] me, and hid [02934] snares [06341] for my feet [07272].

⁷ O LORD [03068], though our iniquities [05771] testify [06030] against us, do [06213] thou it for thy name's [08034] sake: for our backslidings [04878] are many [07231]; we have sinned [02398] against thee.

¹² They rewarded [07999] me evil [07451] for good [02896] to the spoiling [07908] of my soul [05315].

²⁵ But thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068], Even the captives [07628] of the mighty [01368] shall be taken away [03947], and the prey [04455] of the terrible [06184] shall be delivered [04422]: for I will contend [07378] with him that contendeth [03401] with thee, and I will save [03467] thy children [01121].

¹ The word [01697] which came unto Jeremiah [03414] from the LORD [03068] in the days [03117] of Jehoiakim [03079] the son [01121] of Josiah [02977] king [04428] of Judah [03063], saying [0559],

¹⁹ Give heed [07181] to me, O LORD [03068], and hearken [08085] to the voice [06963] of them that contend [03401] with me.

¹¹ Then spake [0559] the priests [03548] and the prophets [05030] unto the princes [08269] and to all the people [05971], saying [0559], This man [0376] is worthy [04941] to die [04194]; for he hath prophesied [05012] against this city [05892], as ye have heard [08085] with your ears [0241].

⁶ Then will I make [05414] this house [01004] like Shiloh [07887], and will make [05414] this city [05892] a curse [07045] to all the nations [01471] of the earth [0776].

⁸ But thou, O LORD [03068], shalt laugh [07832] at them; thou shalt have all the heathen [01471] in derision [03932].

⁴ That they may shoot [03384] in secret [04565] at the perfect [08535]: suddenly [06597] do they shoot [03384] at him, and fear [03372] not.

⁷ Therefore thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635], Behold, I will melt [06884] them, and try [0974] them; for how shall I do [06213] for [06440] the daughter [01323] of my people [05971]?

⁴ Take ye heed [08104] every one [0376] of his neighbour [07453], and trust [0982] ye not in any brother [0251]: for every brother [0251] will utterly [06117] supplant [06117], and every neighbour [07453] will walk [01980] with slanders [07400].

² Oh that [05414] I had in the wilderness [04057] a lodging place [04411] of wayfaring men [0732]; that I might leave [05800] my people [05971], and go [03212] from them! for they be all adulterers [05003], an assembly [06116] of treacherous men [0898].

⁸ How do ye say [0559], We are wise [02450], and the law [08451] of the LORD [03068] is with us? Lo, certainly [0403] in vain [08267] made [06213] he it; the pen [05842] of the scribes [05608] is in vain [08267].
⁹ The wise [02450] men are ashamed [03001], they are dismayed [02865] and taken [03920]: lo, they have rejected [03988] the word [01697] of the LORD [03068]; and what wisdom [02451] is in them?
¹⁰ Therefore will I give [05414] their wives [0802] unto others [0312], and their fields [07704] to them that shall inherit [03423] them: for every one from the least [06996] even unto the greatest [01419] is given [01214] to covetousness [01215], from the prophet [05030] even unto the priest [03548] every one dealeth [06213] falsely [08267].

²⁶ Mischief [01943] shall come [0935] upon mischief [01943], and rumour [08052] shall be upon rumour [08052]; then shall they seek [01245] a vision [02377] of the prophet [05030]; but the law [08451] shall perish [06] from the priest [03548], and counsel [06098] from the ancients [02205].

¹⁸ And the LORD [03068] hath given me knowledge [03045] of it, and I know [03045] it: then thou shewedst [07200] me their doings [04611].

¹⁵ Because my people [05971] hath forgotten [07911] me, they have burned incense [06999] to vanity [07723], and they have caused them to stumble [03782] in their ways [01870] from the ancient [05769] paths [07635] [07635], to walk [03212] in paths [05410], in a way [01870] not cast up [05549];
¹⁶ To make [07760] their land [0776] desolate [08047], and a perpetual [05769] hissing [08292] [08292]; every one that passeth [05674] thereby shall be astonished [08074], and wag [05110] his head [07218].
¹⁷ I will scatter [06327] them as with an east [06921] wind [07307] before [06440] the enemy [0341]; I will shew [07200] them the back [06203], and not the face [06440], in the day [03117] of their calamity [0343].

¹⁹ Give heed [07181] to me, O LORD [03068], and hearken [08085] to the voice [06963] of them that contend [03401] with me.