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.
• 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.”
• New Living Translation (NLT)My people have planted wheat but are harvesting thorns. They have worn themselves out, but it has done them no good. They will harvest a crop of shame because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”

Context of Jeremiah 12:13

11It will be made a wasteland, parched and desolate before me; the whole land will be laid waste because there is no one who cares. 12Over all the barren heights in the desert destroyers will swarm, for the sword of the Lord will devour from one end of the land to the other; no one will be safe. 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.” 14This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the people of Judah from among them. 15But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to their own inheritance and 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 26:16then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.
• Deuteronomy 28:38You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it.
• Micah 6:15You will plant but not harvest; you will press olives but not use the oil, you will crush grapes but not drink the wine.
• Haggai 1:6You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
• Haggai 2:16When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty.
• Jeremiah 3:23Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills and mountains is a deception; surely in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.
• Isaiah 30:1“Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the Lord, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin;
• Isaiah 31:1Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord.
• Isaiah 55:2Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.
• Habakkuk 2:13Has not the Lord Almighty determined that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?
• Romans 6:21What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in 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