New International Version
Jeremiah 18:21
21So give their children over to famine; hand them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives be made childless and widows; let their men be put to death, their young men slain by the sword in battle.
Jeremiah 18:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Therefore deliver up their children to famine; give them over to the power of the sword; let their wives become childless and widowed. May their men meet death by pestilence, their youths be struck down by the sword in battle.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, And pour out their blood By the force of the sword; Let their wives become widows And bereaved of their children. Let their men be put to death, Their young men be slain By the sword in battle.
- New Living Translation (NLT)So let their children starve! Let them die by the sword! Let their wives become childless widows. Let their old men die in a plague, and let their young men be killed in battle!
Context of Jeremiah 18:21
19Listen to me, Lord; hear what my accusers are saying! 20Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember that I stood before you and spoke in their behalf to turn your wrath away from them. So give their children over to famine; hand them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives be made childless and widows; let their men be put to death, their young men slain by the sword in battle. 22Let a cry be heard from their houses when you suddenly bring invaders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet. 23But you, Lord, know all their plots to kill me. Do not forgive their crimes or blot out their sins from your sight. Let them be overthrown before you; deal with them in the time of your anger.
Read all of Jeremiah 18Jeremiah 18:21 word by word
לָכֵן֩ תֵּ֨ן אֶת־בְּנֵיהֶ֜ם לָרָעָ֗ב וְהַגִּרֵם֮ עַל־יְדֵי־חֶרֶב֒ וְתִֽהְיֶ֨נָה נְשֵׁיהֶ֤ם שַׁכֻּלוֹת֙ וְאַלְמָנ֔וֹת וְאַ֨נְשֵׁיהֶ֔ם יִֽהְי֖וּ הֲרֻ֣גֵי מָ֑וֶת בַּח֣וּרֵיהֶ֔ם מֻכֵּי־חֶ֖רֶב בַּמִּלְחָמָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Therefore deliver upנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
- their childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- to the famineרָעָבrâ‛âb · famineH7458
- and pour outנָגַרnâgar · to pourH5064
- by the forceיָדyâd · hand: powerH3027
- of the swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
- and let their wivesאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
- be bereavedשַׁכּוּלshakkûl shakkûl · childlessH7909
- widowsאַלְמָנָה'almânâh · widowH490
- and let their menאֱנוֹשׁ'ĕnôsh · humanH582
- be putהָרַגhârag · to killH2026
- to deathמָ֫וֶתmâveth · deathH4194
- their young menבָּחוּרbâchûr bâchûr · youthH970
- slainנָכָהnâkâh · to smiteH5221
- in battleמִלְחָמָהmilchâmâh · battleH4421
Cross-references for Jeremiah 18:21
- Jeremiah 11:20But you, Lord Almighty, who judge righteously and test the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have committed my cause.
- Jeremiah 12:3Yet you know me, Lord; you see me and test my thoughts about you. Drag them off like sheep to be butchered! Set them apart for the day of slaughter!
- Jeremiah 20:1When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the official in charge of the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things,
- Psalms 109:9May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.
- 2 Timothy 4:14Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done.
- Jeremiah 15:2And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “ ‘Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword; those for starvation, to starvation; those for captivity, to captivity.’
- Jeremiah 16:3For this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers:
- Exodus 22:24My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.
- Deuteronomy 32:25In the street the sword will make them childless; in their homes terror will reign. The young men and young women will perish, the infants and those with gray hair.
- Lamentations 5:3We have become fatherless, our mothers are widows.
- Jeremiah 9:21Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our fortresses; it has removed the children from the streets and the young men from the public squares.
- Jeremiah 11:22therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine.
- 2 Chronicles 36:17He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.
- Amos 4:10“I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 18:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21Therefore deliver up their children - The execrations in these verses should be considered as simply prophetic declarations of the judgments which God was about to pour out on them. If we consider them in their grammatical meaning, then they are not directions to us to whom our Lawgiver has said, "Love your enemies."Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21Pour out sword - literally, “pour them out upon the hands of the sword, i. e., give them up to the sword.” Put to death - Rather, slain of death. The prophet‘s phrase leaves it entirely indefinite in what way the men are to die.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-23Verses 18-23 When the prophet called to repentance, instead of obeying the call, the people devised devices against him. Thus do sinners deal with the great Intercessor, crucifying him afresh, and speaking against him on earth, while his blood is speaking for them in heaven. But the prophet had done his duty to them; and the same will be our rejoicing in a day of evil.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21-23In his prayer for vengeance, Jeremiah asked God to carry out the promised curses on those who broke his covenant (compare Deuteronomy 27:11–26; 28:15–68; see also the “Prayers for Vengeance” Theme Note).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. pour out their blood by the force of the sword--literally, "by the hands of the sword." So Eze 35:5. Maurer with Jerome translates, "deliver them over to the power of the sword." But compare Psa 63:10, Margin; Is 53:12. In this prayer he does not indulge in personal revenge, as if it were his own cause that was at stake; but he speaks under the dictation of the Spirit, ceasing to intercede, and speaking prophetically, knowing they were doomed to…Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 18:21
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 18
- 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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