Christian Standard Bible
Jeremiah 12:13
13They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves but have no profit. Be put to shame by your harvests because of the Lord’s burning anger.
Jeremiah 12:13 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
- New International Version (NIV)They will sow wheat but reap thorns; they will wear themselves out but gain nothing. They will bear the shame of their harvest because of the Lord’s fierce anger.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns; they have tired themselves out but profit nothing. They shall be ashamed of their harvests because of the fierce anger of the Lord."
- New King James Version (NKJV)They have sown wheat but reaped thorns; They have put themselves to pain but do not profit. But be ashamed of your harvest Because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”
Context of Jeremiah 12:13
11They have made it a desolation. It mourns, desolate, before me. All the land is desolate, but no one takes it to heart. 12Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the Lord has a sword that devours from one end of the earth to the other. No one has peace. They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves but have no profit. Be put to shame by your harvests because of the Lord’s burning anger. 14This is what the Lord says: “Concerning all my evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to my people, Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from them. 15After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.
Read all of Jeremiah 12Jeremiah 12:13 word by word
זָרְע֤וּ חִטִּים֙ וְקֹצִ֣ים קָצָ֔רוּ נֶחְל֖וּ לֹ֣א יוֹעִ֑לוּ וּבֹ֙שׁוּ֙ מִתְּבוּאֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם מֵחֲר֖וֹן אַף־יְהוָֽה׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- They have sownזָרַעzâra‛ · to sowH2232
- wheatחִטָּהchiţţâh · wheatH2406
- but shall reapקָצַרqâtsar · to reapH7114
- thornsקוֹץqôts qôts · thornH6975
- they have put themselves to painחָלָהchâlâh · be weak: weakH2470
- shall not profitיָעַלya‛al · to gainH3276
- and they shall be ashamedבּוֹשׁbûsh · be ashamedH954
- of your revenuesתְּבוּאָהtebû'âh · produceH8393
- because of the fierceחָרוֹןchârôn chârôn · burning angerH2740
- angerאַף'aph · face: angerH639
- of the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
Cross-references for Jeremiah 12:13
- Leviticus 26:16then I will do this to you: I will bring terror on you — wasting disease and fever that will cause your eyes to fail and your life to ebb away. You will sow your seed in vain because your enemies will eat it.
- Deuteronomy 28:38“You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because locusts will devour it.
- Micah 6:15You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourself with oil; and you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.
- Haggai 1:6You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough to be satisfied. You drink but never have enough to be happy. You put on clothes but never have enough to get warm. The wage earner puts his wages into a bag with a hole in it.”
- Haggai 2:16what state were you in? When someone came to a grain heap of twenty measures, it only amounted to ten; when one came to the winepress to dip fifty measures from the vat, it only amounted to twenty.
- Jeremiah 3:23Surely, falsehood comes from the hills, commotion from the mountains, but the salvation of Israel is only in the Lord our God.
- Isaiah 30:1Woe to the rebellious children! This is the Lord’s declaration. They carry out a plan, but not mine; they make an alliance, but against my will, piling sin on top of sin.
- Isaiah 31:1Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and who depend on horses! They trust in the abundance of chariots and in the large number of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel, and they do not seek the Lord.
- Isaiah 55:2Why do you spend silver on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods.
- Habakkuk 2:13Is it not from the Lord of Armies that the peoples labor only to fuel the fire and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?
- Romans 6:21So what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? The outcome of those things is death.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 12:13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns - All their projects shall fail: none of their enterprises shall succeed. They are enemies to God, and therefore cannot have his blessing.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13Shall reap shall not profit - Rather, have reaped have profited nothing. The force of the proverb is that all their labors had ended only in disappointment. And they shall be ashamed of your revenues - Or, yea, be ashamed of your produce - the produce of the fields.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-13Verses 7-13 God's people had been the dearly-beloved of his soul, precious in his sight, but they acted so, that he gave them up to their enemies. Many professing churches become like speckled birds, presenting a mixture of religion and the world, with its vain fashions, pursuits, and pollutions. God's people are as men wondered at, as a speckled bird; but this people had by their own folly made themselves so; and the beasts and birds are called to prey…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13The Lord felt no joy when invaders ate his people's crops, leaving only thorns. However, the people of Judah turned away from their faith, which deserved the Lord's fierce anger (see Ezekiel 16:36–39), leading to their shame.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. Description in detail of the devastation of the land (Mi 6:15). they shall be ashamed of your--The change of persons, in passing from indirect to direct address, is frequent in the prophets. Equivalent to, "Ye shall be put to the shame of disappointment at the smallness of your produce."Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 12:13
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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