Jeremiah 6:24-26

New English Translation

²⁴The people cry out,^[a] “We have heard reports about them.
We have become helpless with fear!^[b]
Anguish grips us,
agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby!
²⁵Do not go out into the countryside.
Do not travel on the roads.
For the enemy is there with sword in hand.^[c]
They are spreading terror everywhere.”^[d]
²⁶So I said,^[e] “Oh, my dear people,^[f] put on sackcloth
and roll in ashes.
Mourn with painful sobs
as though you had lost your only child.
For any moment now^[g] that destructive army^[h]
will come against us.”

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 6:24 tn These words are not in the text, but the context indicates that someone other than God is speaking for and to the people (either Jeremiah or the people themselves). These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.
Jeremiah 6:24 tn Or “We have lost our strength to do battle”; Heb “Our hands hang limp [or helpless at our sides].” According to BDB 951 s.v. רָפָה Qal.2, this idiom is used figuratively for losing heart or energy. The best example of its figurative use of loss of strength or the feeling of helplessness is in Ezek 21:12, where it appears in the context of the heart (courage) melting, the spirit sinking, and the knees becoming like water. For other examples compare 2 Sam 4:1; Zeph 3:16. In Neh 6:9 it is used literally of the builders “dropping their hands from the work” out of fear. The words “with fear” are supplied in the translation because they are implicit in the context.
Jeremiah 6:25 tn Heb “For the enemy has a sword.”
Jeremiah 6:25 tn Heb “Terror is all around!”
Jeremiah 6:26 tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the context.
Jeremiah 6:26 tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the translator’s note there.
Jeremiah 6:26 tn Heb “suddenly.”
Jeremiah 6:26 tn Heb “the destroyer.”

New English Translation (NET)

Jeremiah 6:24-26 New English Translation

Footnotes

Jeremiah 6:24-26

New English Translation