Jeremiah 15 - Easy To Read Version

¹ The Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, even if Moses and Samuel were here to pray for the people of Judah, I would not feel sorry for these people. Send the people of Judah away from me. Tell them to go.

² Those people might ask you, ‘Where will we go?’ You tell them this: This is what the Lord says:

³ I will send four kinds of destroyers against them.’\par This message is from the Lord.\par ‘I will send the enemy with a sword to kill.\par I will send the dogs to drag their bodies away.\par I will send birds of the air and wild animals\par to eat and destroy their bodies.\par

⁴ I will make the people of Judah\par an example of some terrible thing\par for all the people on earth.\par I will do this to the people of Judah\par because of what Manasseh {\cf2\super [127]} did in Jerusalem.\par Manasseh was the son of King Hezekiah.\par Manasseh was a king of Judah.’\par

⁵ “No person will feel sorry for you,\par city of Jerusalem.\par No person will be sad and cry for you.\par No person will go out of his way\par to even ask how you are!\par

⁶ Jerusalem, you left me.”\par This message is from the Lord.\par “Again and again you left me!\par So I will punish and destroy you.\par I am tired of holding back your punishment.\par

⁷ I will separate the people of Judah\par with my pitchfork. {\cf2\super [128]} \par I will scatter them at the city gates of the land.\par My people have not changed.\par So I will destroy them.\par I will take away their children.\par

⁸ Many women will lose their husbands.\par There will be more widows\par than there is sand in the sea.\par I will bring a destroyer at noontime.\par The destroyer will attack the mothers\par of the young men of Judah.\par I will bring pain and fear\par on the people of Judah.\par I will make this happen very quickly.\par

⁹ The enemy will attack with swords\par and kill the people.\par They will kill the survivors {\cf2\super [129]} from Judah.\par A woman might have seven sons,\par \{but they will all die.\}\par She will cry and cry\par until she becomes weak\par and not able to breathe.\par She will be upset and confused.\par Her bright day will become dark from sadness.”\par

¹⁰ Mother, I (Jeremiah) am sorry\par that you gave birth to me.\par I am the person that must accuse\par and criticize the whole land.\par I have not loaned or borrowed anything.\par But every person curses me.\par

¹¹ Truly, Lord, I have served you well.\par In time of troubles, I prayed to you\par about my enemies.\par

¹² “Jeremiah, you know that no person\par can shatter a piece of iron.\par I mean the kind of iron\par that is from the north. {\cf2\super [130]} \par And no person can shatter a piece of bronze either.\par

¹³ The people of Judah have many treasures.\par I will give those riches to other people.\par Those other people will not have to buy them.\par \{I will give those riches to them.\}\par Why? Because Judah has many sins.\par People sinned in every part of Judah\par

¹⁴ People of Judah, I will make you slaves\par of your enemies.\par You will be slaves in a land\par that you never knew.\par I am very angry.\par My anger is like a hot fire,\par and you will be burned.”\par

¹⁵ Lord, you understand me.\par Remember me and take care of me.\par People are hurting me.\par Give those people the punishment\par that they deserve.\par You are being patient with those people.\par But don’t destroy me\par while you remain patient with them.\par Think about me.\par Think about the pain I suffer for you, Lord.\par

¹⁶ Your message came to me\par and I ate your words.\par Your message made me very happy.\par I was happy to be called by your name.\par Your name is Lord All-Powerful.\par

¹⁷ I never sat with the crowd\par as they laughed and had fun.\par I sat by myself because of your\par influence on me.\par You filled me with anger\par at the evil around me.\par

¹⁸ I don’t understand why I still hurt.\par I don’t understand why my wound\par is not cured and cannot be healed.\par Lord, I think you have changed.\par You are like a spring of water\par that became dry.\par You are like a spring\par whose water has stopped flowing.\par

¹⁹ Then, the Lord said,\par “Jeremiah, if you change\par and come back to me,\par then I will not punish you.\par If you change and come back to me,\par then you can serve me.\par If you speak important things,\par and not those worthless words,\par then you can speak for me.\par The people of Judah should change\par and come back to you \{Jeremiah\}.\par But don’t you change\par and be like them.\par

²⁰ I will make you strong.\par Those people will think you are strong\par like a wall made of bronze.\par The people of Judah will fight against you.\par But they will not defeat you.\par They will not defeat you.\par Why? Because I am with you.\par I will help you and I will save you.”\par

²¹ “I will save you from those evil people.\par Those people scare you.\par But I will save you from those people.”\par