Jeremiah 12:13

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 will lay it waste. It will lie parched and empty before me. The whole land will be laid waste. But no one living in it will pay any heed. 12A destructive army will come marching over the hilltops in the desert. For the Lord will use them as his destructive weapon against everyone from one end of the land to the other. No one will be safe. My people will sow wheat, but will harvest weeds. They will work until they are exhausted, but will get nothing from it. They will be disappointed in their harvests because the Lord will take them away in his fierce anger. 14“I, the Lord, also have something to say concerning the wicked nations who surround my land and have attacked and plundered the land that I gave to my people as a permanent possession. I say: ‘I will uproot the people of those nations from their lands and I will free the people of Judah who have been taken there. 15But after I have uprooted the people of those nations, I will relent and have pity on them. I will restore the people of each of those nations to their own lands and to their own country.

Jeremiah 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 26:16I for my part will do this to you: I will inflict horror on you, consumption and fever, which diminish eyesight and drain away the vitality of life. You will sow your seed in vain because your enemies will eat it.
• Deuteronomy 28:38“You will take much seed to the field but gather little harvest, because locusts will consume it.
• Micah 6:15You will plant crops, but will not harvest them; you will squeeze oil from the olives, but you will have no oil to rub on your bodies; you will squeeze juice from the grapes, but you will have no wine to drink.
• Haggai 1:6You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but are never filled. You drink, but are still thirsty. You put on clothes, but are not warm. Those who earn wages end up with holes in their money bags.’”
• Haggai 2:16From that time when one came expecting a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty measures from it, there were only twenty.
• Jeremiah 3:23We know our noisy worship of false gods on the hills and mountains did not help us. We know that the Lord our God is the only one who can deliver Israel.
• Isaiah 30:1“The rebellious children are as good as dead,” says the Lord, “those who make plans without consulting me, who form alliances without consulting my Spirit, and thereby compound their sin.
• Isaiah 31:1Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead, those who rely on war horses, and trust in Egypt’s many chariots and in their many, many horsemen. But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel and do not seek help from the Lord.
• Isaiah 55:2Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? Why spend your hard-earned money on something that will not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is nourishing! Enjoy fine food!
• Habakkuk 2:13Be sure of this! The Lord who commands armies has decreed: The nations’ efforts will go up in smoke; their exhausting work will be for nothing.
• Romans 6:21So what benefit did you then reap from those things that you are now ashamed of? For the end 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

• Agriculture
• Jeremiah
• Vanity
• Wheat

In the dictionaries

• Pluck
• Talk
• Thorn
• Covenant, the New
• Crime; Crimes
• Pain
• Reaping
• Revenue
• Thorns, Thistles, Etc.

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