The men in Anathoth want to kill Jeremiah

¹⁸ The Lord showed me what the people were doing.^[a] He helped me to understood what was really happening. ¹⁹ Before that, I did not know about their plans to kill me. I was like a lamb that men were taking away to kill it. I did not know that they were saying, ‘We should cut down this tree and destroy its fruit!^[b] Jeremiah must not continue to live in this world. Then people will forget all about him.’

²⁰ So I said, ‘Lord Almighty, you judge people in a fair way. You know what people are thinking. You understand how they feel. I trust you to show that I have not done anything that is wrong. So please punish these people. Pay them back for their sins.’