Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God berates the people for worshiping idols and condemns them to servitude.

II. Photo
God laments his fate: “Can a maiden forget her jewels, a bride her adornments? Yet my people have forgotten me for days without number!” (v. 32)

III. Important Verses
2: Go proclaim to Jerusalem: Thus said the LORD: I accounted to your favor The devotion of your youth, Your love as a bride — How you followed Me in the wilderness, In a land not sown.
3: Israel was holy to the LORD, The first fruits of His harvest. All who ate of it were held guilty; Disaster befell them — declares the LORD.
5-6: Thus said the LORD: What wrong did your fathers find in Me That they abandoned Me And went after delusion and were deluded? They never asked themselves, “Where is the LORD, Who brought us up from the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, A land of deserts and pits, A land of drought and darkness, A land no man had traversed, Where no human being had dwelt?”
8: The priests never asked themselves, “Where is the LORD?” The guardians of the Teaching ignored Me; The rulers rebelled against Me, And the prophets prophesied by Baal And followed what can do no good.
10-11: Just cross over to the isles of the Kittim and look, Send to Kedar and observe carefully; See if aught like this has ever happened: Has any nation changed its gods Even though they are no-gods? But My people has exchanged its glory For what can do no good.
18: What, then, is the good of your going to Egypt To drink the waters of the Nile? And what is the good of your going to Assyria To drink the waters of the Euphrates?
20: For long ago you broke your yoke, Tore off your yoke-bands, And said, “I will not work!” On every high hill and under every verdant tree, You recline as a whore.
34-35: Moreover, on your garments is found The lifeblood of the innocent poor — You did not catch them breaking in. Yet, despite all these things, You say, “I have been acquitted; Surely, His anger has turned away from me.” Lo, I will bring you to judgment For saying, “I have not sinned.”

IV. Outline

1-3. God’s love for Israel
    1-2a. Introduction to oracle
    2b-3. God’s love for Israel
4-9. Israel’s continuous sin
    4-5a. Introduction oracular sermon
    5b-7. Israel’s forebears chose to sin
    8. The priests, rulers, and prophets rebelled
    9. God will contend with Israel
10-19. Israel’s sin and punishment
    10-11. Israel is worse than other nations
    12. Poetic address
    13. Israel has abandoned God for non-gods
    14-16. Israel’s present and future calamities
    17-19. There is no aid from Egypt or Assyria
20-28. God confronts Israel for worshiping idols
    20. Israel’s effrontery
    21-22. Metaphors: Israel has gone bad
    23a. Israel’s sin: Baal worship
    23b-24. Metaphors: Israel is obstinate
    25-27a. Israel is entranced by their idols
    27b-28. Israel’s gods do not save them from danger
29-35a. God’s lament
    29. Israel has rebelled
    30. Rebuke serves no purpose
    31-32. Israel has forgotten God
    33. Israel’s adultery
    34-35a. Harming the poor
35b-37. Israel’s punishment
    35. Israel will be punished for falsely denying its guilt
    36-37. Egypt will dominate the people

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Craigie, Peter C. “Jeremiah 1-25” Word Biblical Commentary v. 26 (Dallas, Texas: Wordbooks, 1991).
Photo taken from http://mybabygotbling.com/images/V-Necklace-with-a-Broche.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God summons Jeremiah, tells him about future events, and encourages him to deliver his prophecies.

II. Photo
Jeremiah has a vision: “And the word of the Lord came to me a second time: ‘What do you see?’ I replied: ‘I see a steaming pot, tipped away from the north.’ And the Lord said to me: ‘From the north shall disaster break loose upon all the inhabitants of the land!’” (vv. 13-14)

III. Important Verses
1-3: The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. The word of the LORD came to him in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign, and throughout the days of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of King Zedekiah son of Josiah of Judah, when Jerusalem went into exile in the fifth month.
4-9: The word of the LORD came to me: Before I created you in the womb, I selected you; Before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet concerning the nations. I replied: Ah, Lord GOD! I don’t know how to speak, For I am still a boy. And the LORD said to me: Do not say, “I am still a boy,” But go wherever I send you And speak whatever I command you. Have no fear of them, For I am with you to deliver you — declares the LORD. The LORD put out His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: Herewith I put My words into your mouth.
13-16:  And the word of the LORD came to me a second time: What do you see? I replied: I see a steaming pot, Tipped away from the north. And the LORD said to me: From the north shall disaster break loose Upon all the inhabitants of the land! For I am summoning all the peoples of the kingdoms of the north — declares the LORD. ¶ They shall come, and shall each set up a throne Before the gates of Jerusalem, Against its walls roundabout, And against all the towns of Judah. And I will argue My case against them For all their wickedness: They have forsaken Me And sacrificed to other gods And worshiped the works of their hands.

IV. Outline
1-3. Introduction: Jeremiah and his time
4-10. God summons Jeremiah to prophecy
11-16. A northern kingdom will conquer Judaea
17-19. God encourages Jeremiah

V. Comment
As with most of the other prophetic books in the Hebrew Bible, the book of Jeremiah focuses on one of the major catastrophes that befell the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, namely the destruction of the first temple in 586 BCE. The book, which is a collection of oracles and narratives about Jeremiah, contains four types of material. Collins breaks them up as follows (334):

• Poetic oracles
• Narratives about Jeremiah (mostly in the second half of the book)
• Sermons written in Deuteronomic style
• Oracles against foreign nations (chs. 46-51)

The book begins with a preface in vv. 1-3, and, as Craigie points out, it contains three of the four elements found in all such prefaces  (2):

• The specification that it contains a word or vision from the Lord (thereby defining the substance as prophecy).
• The name of the person or prophet through whom the word was delivered.
• The time and place at which the word was given, or the period during which the prophet ministered.
• The subject or theme of the prophetic word.

After the preface, Jeremiah explains how he was summoned:

• The word of the LORD came to me: Before I created you in the womb, I selected you; Before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet concerning the nations. I replied: Ah, Lord GOD! I don’t know how to speak, For I am still a boy. And the LORD said to me: Do not say, “I am still a boy,” But go wherever I send you And speak whatever I command you. Have no fear of them, For I am with you to deliver you — declares the LORD. The LORD put out His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: Herewith I put My words into your mouth. (vv. 4-9)

As Collins points out, this narrative shares many similarities to the summoning of Moses in Exodus 4. He writes: “The call of Jeremiah in chapter 1 follows the pattern of the call of Moses in Exodus rather than that of Isaiah. First, there is no vision involved. It is an auditory experience. Second, Jeremiah protests his unsuitability for the mission, as Moses does in Exod 4:10-17. Finally, the Lord encourages the chosen one and confirms him in his mission. The Lord touches Jeremiah’s mouth (1:9). He assures Moses that ‘I will be with your mouth’ (Exod 4:12).” (336)
VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).

Craigie, Peter C. “Jeremiah 1-25” Word Biblical Commentary v. 26 (Dallas, Texas: Wordbooks, 1991).

Photo taken from http://www.joeandris.com/images/large_images/20132_BurningPot.jpg