Lexicon :: Strong's H4100 - mâ

The word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see the branch of an [fn]almond tree.”

The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, tilting away from the north [its mouth about to pour out on the south, on Judea].”

“What injustice or unrighteousness did your fathers find in Me,

That they have wandered far from Me

And [habitually] walked after emptiness and futility and became empty?

“Now what are you doing by going to Egypt [in search of an ally],

To drink the [muddy] waters of the Nile?

Or what are you doing by going to Assyria [in search of an ally],

To drink the [muddy] waters of the Euphrates?

“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled,

I have not gone after [man-made gods like] the Baals’?

Look at your way in the valley;

Know [without any doubt] what you have done!

You are a swift and restless young [female] camel [in the heat of her passion] running here and there,

“Why do you complain and contend with Me?

You have all rebelled (transgressed) against Me,” says the LORD.

“How well you prepare your path

To seek and obtain [adulterous] love!

Even the most wicked of women

Have learned [indecent] ways from you.

“Why do you go around and wander so much

Changing your way?

Also, you will be shamed by Egypt

As you were shamed by Assyria.

And you, O desolate one, what will you do?

Though you clothe yourself in scarlet,

Though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,

Though you enlarge your eyes with paint,

You make yourself beautiful in vain.

Your lovers (allies) despise you;

They seek your life.

“Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from far away, O house of Israel,” says the LORD.

“It is a mighty and enduring nation,

It is an ancient nation,

A nation whose language you do not know,

Whose words you do not comprehend.

The prophets prophesy falsely,

And the priests rule [fn]on their own authority;

And My people love [to have] it so!

But what will you do when the end comes?

“For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from [fn]Sheba

And the sweet cane from a distant land?

Your burnt offerings are not acceptable

And your sacrifices are not sweet and pleasing to Me.”

“I have listened and heard,

But they have spoken what is not right;

No man repented of his wickedness,

Saying, ‘What have I done?’

Everyone turns to his [individual] course,

As the horse rushes like a torrent into battle.

“The wise men are shamed,

They are dismayed and caught.

Behold, they have [manipulated and] rejected the [truth in the] word of the LORD,

And what kind of wisdom and insight do they have?

Why are we sitting still [the people wonder]?

Assemble yourselves, and let us enter the fortified cities

And let us die there,

For the LORD our God has decreed our ruin

And given us bitter and poisonous water to drink,

Because we have sinned against the LORD.

Who is the wise man who may understand this [without any doubt]? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, so that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?

“What right has My beloved [to be] in My house

When she has done many vile things and acted treacherously [over and over again]?

Can vows and the meat of your sacrifices remove your wickedness from you and cancel the consequences of your sin,

So that you can [escape your judgment and] rejoice?”

“What will you say [O Jerusalem] when the LORD appoints [foreign nations to rule] over you—

Those former friends and allies whom you have encouraged [to be your companions]—

Will not pain seize you

Like [that of] a woman in childbirth?

“O Hope of Israel,

Her Savior in time of distress and trouble,

Why should You be like a sojourner (temporary resident) in the land

Or like a traveler who turns aside and spreads his tent to linger [only] for a night?

Why has my pain been perpetual

And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?

Will you indeed be to me like a deceptive brook

With water that is unreliable?

“Now when you tell these people all these words and they ask you, ‘Why has the LORD decreed all this great tragedy against us? And what is our iniquity, what is the sin which we have committed against the LORD our God?’

Why did I come out of the womb

To see trouble and sorrow,

So that my days have been filled with shame?

“Many nations will pass by this city; and each man will say to another, ‘Why has the LORD done this to this great city?’

“O inhabitant of [Jerusalem, whose palaces are made from the cedars of] Lebanon,

You who nest in the cedars,

How you will groan and how miserable you will be when pains come on you,

Pain like a woman in childbirth!

“Now when this people or a prophet or a priest asks you [in jest], ‘What is the [fn]oracle of the LORD [the burden to be lifted up and carried]?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘What oracle [besides the one that declares you people to be the burden]!’ The LORD says, ‘I will unburden Myself and I will abandon you.’

‘Why do you cry out over your injury [since it is the natural result of your sin]?

Your pain is incurable (deadly).

Because your guilt is great

And your sins are glaring and innumerable,

I have done these things to you.

“O inhabitant of Aroer,

Stand by the road and keep watch!

Ask [of] him who flees and [ask of] her who escapes,

Saying, ‘What has happened?’

“Why do you boast of your valleys?

Your valley is flowing away,

[O Ammon] rebellious and faithless daughter

Who trusts in her treasures, saying,

‘Who will come against me?’