Jeremiah Pleads for Vengeance
10 aWoe to me, my mother, that you have borne me
As a bman of strife and a man of contention to all the land!
I have not clent, nor have men lent money to me,
Yet everyone curses me.
11 Yahweh said, “Surely I will aset you free for purposes of good;
Surely I will cause the benemy to intercede with you
In a time of disaster and a time of distress.
12 “Can anyone smash iron,
aIron from the north, or bronze?
13 Your awealth and your treasures
I will give for plunder bwithout cost,
Even for all your sins
And within all your borders.
14 Then I will cause your enemies to pass it over
Into a aland you do not know,
For a bfire has been kindled in My anger;
It will burn upon you.”
15 aYou who know, O Yahweh,
Remember me, take notice of me,
And btake vengeance for me on my persecutors.
Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away;
Know that cfor Your sake I endure reproach.
16 Your words were found, and I aate them,
And Your bwords became for me joy and gladness in my heart,
For I have been ccalled by Your name,
O Yahweh God of hosts.
17 I adid not sit in the circle of merrymakers,
Nor did I exult.
Because of Your hand upon me I sat balone,
For You cfilled me with indignation.
18 Why has my pain been perpetual
And my awound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Will You indeed be to me blike a deceptive stream
With water that is unreliable?
Yahweh’s Answer
19 Therefore thus says Yahweh,
“aIf you return, then I will cause you to return—
bBefore Me you will stand;
And cif you extract the precious from the worthless,
You will become My mouthpiece.
They for their part may turn to you,
But as for you, you must not turn to them.
20 Then I will amake you to this people
A fortified wall of bronze;
And they will fight against you,
But they will not prevail against you,
For bI am with you to save you
And deliver you,” declares Yahweh.
21 “So I will adeliver you from the hand of the evil ones,
And I will bredeem you from the grasp of the ruthless ones.”