New Living Translation
Jeremiah 42:20
20For you were not being honest when you sent me to pray to the Lord your God for you. You said, ‘Just tell us what the Lord our God says, and we will do it!’
Jeremiah 42:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, Pray for us unto the Lord our God; and according unto all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.
- New International Version (NIV)that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.’
- English Standard Version (ESV)that you have gone astray at the cost of your lives. For you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, 'Pray for us to the Lord our God, and whatever the Lord our God says, declare to us and we will do it.'
- New King James Version (NKJV)For you were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and according to all that the Lord your God says, so declare to us and we will do it.’
Context of Jeremiah 42:20
18“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as my anger and fury have been poured out on the people of Jerusalem, so they will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will be an object of damnation, horror, cursing, and mockery. And you will never see your homeland again.’ 19“Listen, you remnant of Judah. The Lord has told you: ‘Do not go to Egypt!’ Don’t forget this warning I have given you today. For you were not being honest when you sent me to pray to the Lord your God for you. You said, ‘Just tell us what the Lord our God says, and we will do it!’ 21And today I have told you exactly what he said, but you will not obey the Lord your God any better now than you have in the past. 22So you can be sure that you will die from war, famine, and disease in Egypt, where you insist on going.”
Read all of Jeremiah 42Jeremiah 42:20 word by word
כִּ֣י הִתְעֵיתֶם֮ בְּנַפְשֽׁוֹתֵיכֶם֒ כִּֽי־אַתֶּ֞ם שְׁלַחְתֶּ֣ם אֹתִ֗י אֶל־יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר הִתְפַּלֵּ֣ל בַּעֲדֵ֔נוּ אֶל־יְהוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ וּכְכֹל֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יֹאמַ֜ר יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֵ֛ינוּ כֵּ֥ן הַגֶּד־לָ֖נוּ וְעָשִֽׂינוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- For ye dissembledתָּעָהtâ‛âh · to go astrayH8582
- in your heartsנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: lifeH5315
- when ye sentשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
- me unto the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- your Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- sayingאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- Prayפָּלַלpâlal · to prayH6419
- so declareנָגַדnâgad · to tellH5046
- unto us, and we will doעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
Cross-references for Jeremiah 42:20
- Jeremiah 3:10But despite all this, her faithless sister Judah has never sincerely returned to me. She has only pretended to be sorry. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
- Jeremiah 17:10But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”
- Psalms 18:44As soon as they hear of me, they submit; foreign nations cringe before me.
- Psalms 65:3Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, you forgive them all.
- Ezekiel 14:3“Son of man, these leaders have set up idols in their hearts. They have embraced things that will make them fall into sin. Why should I listen to their requests?
- Ezekiel 33:31So my people come pretending to be sincere and sit before you. They listen to your words, but they have no intention of doing what you say. Their mouths are full of lustful words, and their hearts seek only after money.
- Matthew 22:15Then the Pharisees met together to plot how to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested.
- Galatians 6:7Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.
- Numbers 16:38Take the incense burners of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and hammer the metal into a thin sheet to overlay the altar. Since these burners were used in the Lord’s presence, they have become holy. Let them serve as a warning to the people of Israel.”
- James 1:22But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.
- Jeremiah 42:2Jeremiah the prophet. They said, “Please pray to the Lord your God for us. As you can see, we are only a tiny remnant compared to what we were before.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 42:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20For ye dissembled in your hearts - What a most miserable and incorrigible people! Ingratitude, hypocrisy, rebellion, and cruelty seem to have been enthroned in their hearts! And what are they still? Just what their fathers were, except in the mere article of idolatry; and that they do not practice because they are indifferent to their own religion and to that of all others. Examine their devotions and their lives, and see whether Charity herself can say…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Ye dissembled in your hearts - Or, “ye have led yourselves astray,” i. e., your sending me to ask counsel of God was an act of self-delusion. You felt so sure that God would direct you to go into Egypt, that now that He has spoken to the contrary, you are unable to reconcile yourselves to it.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-22Verses 7-22 If we would know the mind of the Lord in doubtful cases, we must wait as well as pray. God is ever ready to return in mercy to those he has afflicted; and he never rejects any who rely on his promises. He has declared enough to silence even the causeless fears of his people, which discourge them in the way of duty. Whatever loss or suffering we may fear from obedience, is provided against in God's word; and he will protect and deliver all who…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-22Jeremiah had already predicted Egypt's fate; the Babylonians would destroy it (Jeremiah 46:2–26). This remaining group from Judah would face the Lord's judgment if they went to Egypt.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. dissembled in your hearts--rather, "ye have used deceit against your (own) souls." It is not God, but yourselves, whom ye deceive, to your own ruin, by your own dissimulation (Ga 6:7) [Calvin]. But the words following accord best with English Version, ye have dissembled in your hearts (see on Jr 42:3) towards me, when ye sent me to consult God for you.Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 42:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 42
- 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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