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Jeremiah 5:27-29
New English Translation
Jeremiah 5:27-29
New English Translation
27 Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught,[a]
their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit.[b]
That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful.[c]
28 That is how[d] they have grown fat and sleek.[e]
There is no limit to the evil things they do.[f]
They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it.
They do not defend the rights of the poor.
29 I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.
“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this![g]
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 5:27 tn The words, “that have been caught” are not in the text but are implicit in the comparison.
- Jeremiah 5:27 tn Heb “are filled with deceit.” The translation assumes a figure of speech of cause for effect (metonymy). Compare the same word in the same figure in Zeph 1:9.
- Jeremiah 5:27 tn Heb “therefore they have gotten great and rich.”
- Jeremiah 5:28 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show that this line is parallel with the preceding.
- Jeremiah 5:28 tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. This verb occurs only here. The lexicons generally relate it to the word translated “plate” in Song 5:14 and understand it to mean “smooth, shiny” (so BDB 799 s.v. I עֶשֶׁת) or “fat” (so HALOT 850 s.v. II עֶשֶׁת). The word in Song 5:14 more likely means “smooth” than “plate” (so TEV). So “sleek” is most likely here.
- Jeremiah 5:28 tn Heb “they cross over/transgress with respect to matters of evil.”sn There is a wordplay in the use of this verb, which has twice been applied in v. 22 to the sea not crossing the boundary set for it by God.
- Jeremiah 5:29 tn Heb “Should I not punish…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions function as emphatic declarations.sn These words are repeated from 5:9 to give a kind of refrain justifying again the necessity of punishment in the light of such sins.
New English Translation (NET)
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