“Heal me!
Yahweh!
Then I shall be healed.
Save me!
Then I shall be saved.
You are my praise!
See how they say to me.
‘Where is the word of Yahweh?
Let it come!’
I have not run away
From being a shepherd
In your service.
I have not desired
The fatal day.
You know
What came from my lips.
It was before your face.
Do not become a terror to me!
You are my refuge
In the day of disaster.
Let my persecutors be shamed!
But do not let me be shamed!
Let them be dismayed!
But do not let me be dismayed!
Bring on them
The day of disaster!
Destroy them
With a double destruction!”
Jeremiah lamented about the fatal day of destruction. He wanted to be healed and saved by Yahweh because he praised him. He was taunted by others for his connection to Yahweh. However, he had not run away from being a shepherd or leader in the service of Yahweh. He had not desired this fatal day of destruction. Yahweh knew what he had said in front of him. He did not want Yahweh to scare him on this future fatal day. Instead, he wanted his persecutors to be ashamed and dismayed, but not him. He wanted to bring on this fatal day to them with a double dose of destruction.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 