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Jeremiah and Lamentations: Babylonian Crisis

  1. Lesson One
    The Prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1–6, 26–29, 35–38)
    19 Activities
    |
    4 Assessments
  2. Lesson Two
    Jeremiah: Idolatry and Anguish (Jeremiah 39–51)
    20 Activities
  3. Lesson Three
    Jeremiah: Shame and Dignity (Jeremiah 7–20)
    21 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  4. Lesson Four
    Jeremiah: A Future Hope (Jeremiah 21–25, 30–34)
    21 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  5. Lesson Five
    Lamentations
    21 Activities
  6. Course Wrap-Up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment

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Grab your Workbook Journal!

[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]

Jeremiah will often frame themes of shame and dishonor in formal speeches or addresses called “laments.” These speeches tend to have a number of common elements. 

  1. Read the lament in Jeremiah 20:7-18 and see if you can identify some of the following elements of laments: complaint, petition, statement of innocence, statement of confidence, and praise. In your workbook record your observations and fill in the blanks in the table.
ElementPassage
O LORD, you have deceived me,
    and I was deceived . . .
I have become a laughingstock all the day;
    everyone mocks me. (20:7)
Let me see your vengeance upon them,
    for to you have I committed my cause. (20:12)
O LORD of hosts, who tests the righteous,
who sees the heart and the mind. (20:12)
But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble;
they will not overcome me.
They will be greatly shamed. (20:11)
Sing to the LORD;
    praise the LORD!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
    from the hand of evildoers. (20:13)

Source: Elmer A. Martens, Jeremiah, 1986, pp. 301-303.

See the completed Element column

Compare your observations with those in the completed table below.

Element Passage
Complaint O LORD, you have deceived me,
and I was deceived . . .
I have become a laughingstock all the day;
everyone mocks me. (20:7)
Petition Let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause. (20:12)
Statement of Innocence O LORD of hosts, who tests the righteous,
who sees the heart and the mind. (20:12)
Statement of Confidence But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble;
they will not overcome me.
They will be greatly shamed. (20:11)
Praise Sing to the LORD;
praise the LORD!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hand of evildoers. (20:13)

Source: Elmer A. Martens, Jeremiah, 1986, pp. 301-303.