“Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.”
Jeremiah's petition for divine retribution—giving their children to famine and pouring out their blood—represents not personal vengeance but a call for God's justice. The severity of the requested judgment matches the severity of their crime: they seek to kill the prophet, so let them and their children face death. This verse shows the proper response to persecution: not to retaliate oneself but to appeal to God's justice. The specific mention of widows and the bereaved emphasizes that the judgment will be thorough and complete, touching all members of the community. Jeremiah's prayer invokes the covenant curse—the threatened judgment that comes when the covenant is violated.
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