Jeremiah 9:15

15 Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water.

Jeremiah 9:15 in Other Translations

15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.

15 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them poisonous water to drink.

15 So now, this is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: Look! I will feed them with bitterness and give them poison to drink.

15 And this is the consequence. God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so: "I'll feed them with pig slop. "I'll give them poison to drink.

15 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "I am about to feed this people wormwood and give them poisonous waters to drink.

Jeremiah 9:15 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 9:15

Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,
&c.] He calls himself "the Lord God of hosts", of armies above and below, in heaven and in earth, in opposition to Baalim, the idols of the Gentiles; which word signifies "lords"; which, though there be many who are called so, there is but one God, and one Lord, who is God over all, and "the God of Israel"; who had chosen them, and distinguished them by the blessings of his goodness; and yet they had forsaken him, and followed after other gods; by which the eyes of his glory were provoked, and he was determined to chastise them for it: behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood;
that is, with straits or difficulties, as the Septuagint version; with bitter afflictions; such are not joyous, but grievous; which are irksome and disagreeable, as bitter things, and particularly wormwood, are to the taste. The Targum is,

``I will bring tribulation upon them, bitter as wormwood:''

and give them water of gall to drink;
meaning either of the entrails of a beast so called, or of the juice of the herb hemlock, as the word is rendered in ( Hosea 10:4 ) , as Kimchi; or of the poison of a serpent, as Jarchi; and so the Targum,

``and I will give them the cup of cursing to drink as the heads of serpents:''

signifying that their punishment would be very severe, though just.

Jeremiah 9:15 In-Context

13 The LORD said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law.

14 Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.”

15 Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water.

16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them.”

17 This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come; send for the most skillful of them.

Cross References

• 1. Lamentations 3:15
• 2. S Jeremiah 8:14