A Plot against Jeremiah Provokes an Imprecation

A plot claims that priest, wise, and prophet will outlast Jeremiah's tongue

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

Institutional permanence is their comfort while they plan to ruin his name. Smite-with-the-tongue is reputational assault. Jeremiah recalls his intercession. The unit does not prove that every criticized preacher is Jeremiah, or that institutions are always empty.

The imprecation asks famine, widowhood, and unforgiven sin — and must not be copied as policy

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. Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet. Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

The prayer must not be used to curse critics, celebrate harm to children, or bypass due process and self-examination. This is recorded anguish after a death-plot, not a liturgy for your enemies. Children's famine in the plea is the text's severity, not your permission.