In the last passage we looked at the rows of inverted commas that beginning in Jeremiah 27:11 from the New World Translation.
Following the same basic principles of English punctuation we will now look at the quote sequence of quotes that appears in the paragraph of Jeremiah 3:12. However, the quotes in this series actually begins in verse 11, hence we will begin there.
This passage starts with => " ' " '
while the previous paragraph starts with no quotes, and only has one => " <= included within it.
I attempted to utilized the same color encoding it, as well as embedded some comments, in order to help resolve this 'puzzle'. However, previously there was no direct event of Jeremiah quoting Jehovah, since before he was quoting himself quoting Jehovah. Hence the same color is used for this new situation, but the direction starts with Jeremiah quoting Jehovah, rather than himself.
Note: Not all browsers will have the same color standards, however the following should be visible on Netscape, IE, and Opera. Text browsers may not be compatible. However the gist of the comments can probably be enough to glean who's quoting who when.
Legend:
My comments, or the verse number.
Jeremiah, plainly speaking.
Jeremiah quoting Jehovah.
Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah.
Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah quoting Jehovah.
Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah.
Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting faithless ones.
BELOW start: no quotes, Jeremiah is speaking
11And Jehovah went on to say to me:
BELOW open: Jeremiah quoting Jehovah
"Unfaithful Israel has proved her own soul to be more righteous than treacherously dealing Judah. 12Go, and you must proclaim these words to the north and say:
ABOVE close: Jeremiah quoting Jehovah, but quote was never closed, hence next paragraph will begin with Jeremiah still quoting Jehovah
BELOW: continue Jeremiah quoting Jehovah; and open Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah; and open Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah quoting Jehovah
"`"Do return, O renegade Israel,"
ABOVE close: Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah quoting Jehovah
BELOW open: next sentence portion will continue with Jeremiah still quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah
is the utterance of Jehovah.'
ABOVE close: Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah, but Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting was never closed, hence next sentence will continue with such
BELOW: continue Jeremiah quoting Jehovah; and open Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah; and open Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah quoting Jehovah
`"I shall not have my face drop angrily upon you people, for I am loyal,"
ABOVE close: Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah quoting Jehovah
BELOW: continue Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah
is the utterance of Jehovah.'
ABOVE close: Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah
BELOW: continue Jeremiah quoting Jehovah; and open Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah; and open Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah quoting Jehovah
'" I shall not stay resentful to time indefinite. 13Only take note of your error, for it is against Jehovah your God that you have transgressed. And you continued scattering your ways to the strangers under every luxuriant tree, but to my voice you people did not listen,"
ABOVE close: Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah quoting Jehovah
BELOW: continue Jeremiah quoting Jehovah; and Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah
is the utterance of Jehovah.'"
ABOVE close: Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting Jeremiah; and Jeremiah quoting Jehovah
BELOW: New paragraph, and if Jeremiah had spoken his own words first, the there would be no quotes. However he begins by quoting Jehovah
14"Return, O you renegade sons,"
ABOVE close: Jeremiah quoting Jehovah
BELOW: continue Jeremiah speaking plainly
is the utterance of Jehovah.
BELOW: open Jeremiah quoting Jehovah
"For I myself have become the husbandly owner of you people; and I will take you, one out of a city and two out of a family, and I will bring you to Zion. 15And I will give you shepherds in agreement with my heart, and they will certainly feed you with knowledge and insight. 16And it must occur that you will become many and certainly bear fruit in the land in those days,"
ABOVE close: Jeremiah quoting Jehovah
BELOW: continue Jeremiah speaking plainly
is the utterance of Jehovah.
BELOW: open Jeremiah quoting Jehovah
"No more will they say,
ABOVE: Jeremiah quoting Jehovah still open
BELOW: open Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting faithless ones
`The ark of the covenant of Jehovah!'
ABOVE close: Jeremiah quoting Jehovah quoting faithless ones
BELOW: continue Jeremiah quoting Jehovah
nor will it come up into the heart, nor will they remember it or miss it, and no more will it be made.
17In that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah; and to her all the nations must be brought together to the name of Jehovah at Jerusalem, and they will no more walk after the stubbornness of their bad heart."
ABOVE close: Jeremiah quoting Jehovah. End of paragraph, and if Jeremiah had continued speaking his own words in this paragraph, the there would be no quotes.