I was like a trusting lamb brought to the slaughter. I didn’t know that they were plotting against me. They were saying, “Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit. Let’s cut Jeremiah off from this world of the living so that we won’t be reminded of him anymore.”
I have heard many ⌞people⌟ whispering, “Terror is everywhere! Report him! Let’s report him!” All my closest friends are waiting to see me stumble. They say, “Maybe he will be tricked. Then we can overpower him and take revenge on him.”
You have invited those who terrorize me on every side, as though they were invited to a festival. No one escaped or survived on the day of the Lord’s anger. My enemy has murdered the children I nursed and raised.”
The priests and the crowd became more forceful. They said, “He stirs up the people throughout Judea with his teachings. He started in Galilee and has come here.”