English Standard Version
Jeremiah 13:21
21What will you say when they set as head over you those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you? Will not pangs take hold of you like those of a woman in labor?
Jeremiah 13:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
- New International Version (NIV)What will you say when the Lord sets over you those you cultivated as your special allies? Will not pain grip you like that of a woman in labor?
- New King James Version (NKJV)What will you say when He punishes you? For you have taught them To be chieftains, to be head over you. Will not pangs seize you, Like a woman in labor?
- New Living Translation (NLT)What will you say when the Lord takes the allies you have cultivated and appoints them as your rulers? Pangs of anguish will grip you, like those of a woman in labor!
Context of Jeremiah 13:21
19The cities of the Negeb are shut up, with none to open them; all Judah is taken into exile, wholly taken into exile. 20"Lift up your eyes and see those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given you, your beautiful flock? What will you say when they set as head over you those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you? Will not pangs take hold of you like those of a woman in labor? 22And if you say in your heart, 'Why have these things come upon me?' it is for the greatness of your iniquity that your skirts are lifted up and you suffer violence. 23Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.
Read all of Jeremiah 13Jeremiah 13:21 word by word
מַה־תֹּֽאמְרִי֙ כִּֽי־יִפְקֹ֣ד עָלַ֔יִךְ וְ֠אַתְּ לִמַּ֨דְתְּ אֹתָ֥ם עָלַ֛יִךְ אַלֻּפִ֖ים לְרֹ֑אשׁ הֲל֤וֹא חֲבָלִים֙ יֹאחֱז֔וּךְ כְּמ֖וֹ אֵ֥שֶׁת לֵדָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- What wilt thou sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- when he shall punishפָּקַדpâqad · to reckon: overseerH6485
- thee? for thou hast taughtלָמַדlâmad · to learn: teachH3925
- captainsאַלּוּף'alûph 'allûph · tameH441
- as chiefרֹאשׁrô'sh · head: leaderH7218
- over thee: shall not sorrowsחֵ֫בֶלchebel chêbel · painH2256
- takeאָחַז'âchaz · to graspH270
- thee, as a womanאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
- in travailיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205
Cross-references for Jeremiah 13:21
- Jeremiah 5:31the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?
- Jeremiah 22:23O inhabitant of Lebanon, nested among the cedars, how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you, pain as of a woman in labor!"
- Isaiah 10:3What will you do on the day of punishment, in the ruin that will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth?
- Ezekiel 28:9Will you still say, 'I am a god,' in the presence of those who kill you, though you are but a man, and no god, in the hands of those who slay you?
- 2 Kings 16:7So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, "I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me."
- Isaiah 39:2And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.
- Jeremiah 4:31For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor, anguish as of one giving birth to her first child, the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands, "Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers."
- Jeremiah 6:24We have heard the report of it; our hands fall helpless; anguish has taken hold of us, pain as of a woman in labor.
- Jeremiah 30:6Ask now, and see, can a man bear a child? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor? Why has every face turned pale?
- Jeremiah 48:41the cities shall be taken and the strongholds seized. The heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day like the heart of a woman in her birth pains;
- Isaiah 13:8They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame.
- Isaiah 21:3Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labor; I am bowed down so that I cannot hear; I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 13:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21Thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee - This is said of their enemies, whether Assyrians or Chaldeans: for ever since Ahaz submitted himself to the king of Assyria, the kings of Judah never regained their independence. Their enemies were thus taught to be their lords and masters.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21Translate, “What wilt thou say, O Jerusalem, when He, Yahweh, shall set over thee for head those whom thou hast taught to be thy bosom friends?” The foreign powers, whose friendship she has been courting, will become her tyrants.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-27Verses 18-27 Here is a message sent to king Jehoiakim, and his queen. Their sorrows would be great indeed. Do they ask, Wherefore come these things upon us? Let them know, it is for their obstinacy in sin. We cannot alter the natural colour of the skin; and so is it morally impossible to reclaim and reform these people. Sin is the blackness of the soul; it is the discolouring of it; we were shapen in it, so that we cannot get clear of it by any power of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20-22King Jehoiachin did not care about the well-being of his people, the beautiful flock of Judah. Because of the king's many sins, Judah suffered abuse from its supposed allies.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. captains, and as chief--literally, "princes as to headship"; or "over thy head," namely, the Chaldeans. Rather, translate, "What wilt thou say when God will set them (the enemies, Jr 13:20) above thee, seeing that thou thyself hast accustomed them (to be) with thee as (thy) lovers in the highest place (literally, 'at thy head')? Thou canst not say God does thee wrong, seeing it was thou that gave occasion to His dealing so with thee, by so eagerly…Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 13:21
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 13
- 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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