The Skeptics Annotated Bible

by Wells, Steve

  9 She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.

  (15.9) “The residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.”

  10 Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.

  11 The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.

  12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?

  13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.

  14 And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.

  (15.14) “A fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.”

  15 O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.

  16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

  17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.

  18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?

  19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.

  20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

  21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.

  JEREMIAH 16

  (16.1-7) God tells Jeremiah not to get married or have children, because he’s going to kill everyone (mothers and daughters, fathers and sons). They all “shall die of grievous deaths,” and they shall neither “be lamented” nor buried, but “shall be as dung upon the face of the earth.” For he has removed peace, “lovingkindness,” and mercy from the people.

  120 Is God merciful?

  16 The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying,

  (16.1) “The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying,”

  2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.

  (16.2) “Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.”

  3 For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;

  (16.3) “For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land.”

  4 They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

  (16.4) “They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.”

  5 For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.

  (16.5) “Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.”

  6 Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:

  (16.6) “Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:”

  7 Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.

  (16.7) “Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.”

  8 Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.

  9 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.

  (16.10-11) After God has killed everyone, those who remain will say, “Wherefore hath the Lord pronounced this great evil against us?” God answers saying, “Because your fathers have forsaken me.”

  41 Are we punished for the sins of others?

  10 And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?

  (16.10) “Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?”

  11 Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;

  (16.11) “Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD.”

  12 And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:

  13 Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour.

  14 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

  15 But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.

  16 Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

  17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.

  (16.17) “For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.”

  18 Can God see everything?

  18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.

  19 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee f
rom the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.

  20 Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?

  21 Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD.

  (16.21) “I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD.”

  JEREMIAH 17

  17 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;

  2 Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.

  3 O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders.

  4 And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.

  (17.4) “I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.”

  144 How long does God’s anger last?

  5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

  (17.5) “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man.”

  6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.

  7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

  8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

  9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

  (17.9) “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.”

  10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

  (17.10a) “I the Lord … give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”

  304 Is salvation by faith alone?

  (17.10b) “I try the reins.” “Reins” are kidneys in the KJV.

  11 As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.

  12 A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.

  13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.

  14 Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.

  15 Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.

  16 As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee.

  17 Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.

  18 Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.

  (17.18) “Bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.”

  19 Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;

  20 And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:

  21 Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;

  22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.

  23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.

  24 And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein;

  25 Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever.

  26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the LORD.

  27 But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.

  (17.27) “If ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day … then will I kindle a fire … and it shall not be quenched.”

  JEREMIAH 18

  (18.1-6) God is a bad potter. Don’t complain about it.

  18 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

  (18.1) “The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,”

  2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

  (18.2) “Go down to the potter’s house.”

  3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

  (18.3) “Then I went down to the potter’s house.”

  4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

  (18.4) “And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.”

  5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

  (18.5) “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,”

  6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

  (18.6) “Cannot I do with you as this potter?”

  7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

  8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.

  9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;

  10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

  (18.8-10) “If that nation … turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them … If it do evil in my sight … then I will repent of the good.”

  32 Does God ever repent?

  11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

  (18.11) “Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you.” God admits that
he does evil things to people once in a while. (Nobody’s perfect.)

  12 And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

  13 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.

  (18.13) “The virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.” (She had sex with another god.)

  14 Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?

  15 Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;

  (18.16-17)

  16 To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.

  (18.16) “To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.”

  17 I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

  (18.17) “I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.” God will scatter the Israelites before their enemy. And then, on “the day of their calamity,” he’ll show them his backside instead of his face.

  18 Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.

  19 Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.

  20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.