When the Holy One Complained About Nebuchadnezzar the Wicked

Rabbi Tanhum bar Hanilai said: In three places the Holy One, blessed be He, lodges a complaint against the wicked Nebuchadnezzar, in the book of Jeremiah, in the book of Kings, and in the book of Chronicles. Like a man who says to his neighbor, See what so-and-so, that ground-up corpse, did to me, so too the Holy One, blessed be He, said, See what the dwarf of Babylon did to me. Another interpretation: Jeremiah [Yirmeyahu] hints at the laments of Jeremiah, How does she sit solitary (Lamentations 1:1), How has He clouded over in His anger (Lamentations 2:1), How is the gold become dim (Lamentations 4:1). Another interpretation hints at the death [mavet] of Jeremiah, Those for death, to death (Jeremiah 43:11). Another interpretation: Jeremiah. The Holy One said to Jeremiah, Go say to Israel, do repentance, and if not, behold, I will destroy My holy Temple. They said, if the destroyer destroys, it is not his own that he destroys. Rather thus said the Holy One, blessed be He, Behold, I will destroy My Temple and My word will be confirmed through Jeremiah. Another interpretation: Jeremiah. The Holy One said to Jeremiah, I seek My words [divrai] back from them, Jeremiah. I said to them, I am the LORD your God (Exodus 20:2), and they did not do so but said to the wood, You are my father (Jeremiah 2:27). I said to them, You shall have no other gods (Exodus 20:2), and they did not do so but bowed on the rooftops to the host of heaven (Zephaniah 1:5). I said to them, You shall not take up the name of the LORD your God in vain (Exodus 20:7), and they did not do so but indeed swear falsely (Jeremiah 5:2). I said to them, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8), and they did not do so but, You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths (Ezekiel 22:8). I said to them, Honor your father and your mother (Exodus 20:12), and they did not do so but, Father and mother they have made light of within you (Ezekiel 22:7). I said to them, You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal (Exodus 20:13), and they did not do so but, stealing and murdering and committing adultery (Jeremiah 7:9). I said to them, You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (Exodus 20:13), and they did not do so but, they bend their tongue, their bow of falsehood (Jeremiah 9:2). I said to them, You shall not covet (Exodus 20:14), and they did not do so but, they covet fields and seize them, and houses and carry them off (Micah 2:2).