Jeremiah 25:29-38

29 for lo! in the city in which my name is called to help, I begin to torment, and shall ye as innocents be without pain? ye shall not be without pain, for I call (for the) sword on all the dwellers of earth, saith the Lord of hosts. (for lo! in the city in which my name is called on for help/in the city which is called by my name, I shall begin to torment it, and shall ye, as innocents, be without pain? ye shall not be without pain, for I shall call for the sword on all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts.)
30 And thou shalt prophesy to them all these words, and thou shalt say to them, The Lord shall roar from on high, and from his holy dwelling place he shall give his voice; he roaring shall roar on his fairness; a merry song, as of men treading in pressers, shall be sung against all [the] dwellers of earth. (And thou shalt prophesy to them all these words, and thou shalt say to them, The Lord shall roar from on high, and he shall give his voice from his holy dwelling place; he roaring shall roar across the heavens; and a happy song, like when people tread the winepresses, shall be sung against all the inhabitants of the earth.)
31 [The] Sound is come unto the last parts of [the] earth, for why doom is to the Lord with folks, he is deemed with each flesh; the Lord saith, I have given wicked men to the sword. (The sound shall come unto the last parts of the earth, for the Lord shall judge the nations, yea, he shall judge all flesh, and he shall give the wicked ones to the sword. Thus saith the Lord.)
32 The Lord of hosts saith these things, Lo! torment shall go out from folk into folk, and a great whirlwind shall go out from the ends of [the] earth.
33 And the slain men of the Lord shall be in that day from the end of the earth unto the end thereof; they shall not be bewailed, neither shall be gathered together, neither shall be buried; they shall lie into a dunghill on the face of [the] earth. (And on that day, the people killed by the Lord shall lie flat on the earth from one end to the other; they shall not be bewailed, nor shall they be gathered together, nor shall they be buried, but they shall lie upon the face of the earth like a mound of dung.)
34 Yell, ye shepherds, and cry, and, ye principals of the flock, besprinkle you with ashes; for your days be [ful]filled, that ye be slain, and your scatterings be (ful)filled, and ye shall fall as precious vessels. (Yell, ye shepherds of the people, and cry aloud, and besprinkle yourselves with ashes, ye principal men, or ye leaders, of the flock; for your days be fulfilled, and now ye shall be killed, and your scatterings be fulfilled, and now ye shall fall like precious vessels.)
35 And fleeing shall perish from [the] shepherds, and saving shall perish from the principals of the flock. (And there shall be no escape for the shepherds of the people, yea, no salvation for the principal men, or the leaders, of the flock.)
36 The voice of the cry of shepherds, and the yelling of the principals of the flock, for the Lord hath wasted the pastures of them. (Hear the sound of the cry of the shepherds of the people, and the yelling of the principal men, or of the leaders, of the flock, for the Lord hath destroyed their pastures.)
37 And the fields of peace were still(ed), for the face of [the] wrath of the strong vengeance of the Lord. (And the peaceful fields were wasted, by the anger of the strong vengeance of the Lord.)
38 He as a lion hath forsaken his tabernacle, for the land of them is made into desolation, of the face of (the) wrath of the culver, and of the face of (the) wrath of the strong vengeance of the Lord. (They have deserted their tents like a lion hath deserted his den, for their land is made into desolation, by the cruel sword, and by the anger of his strong vengeance.)

Jeremiah 25:29-38 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 25

This chapter contains a prophecy of the destruction of Judea by the king of Babylon; and also of Babylon itself, after the Jews' captivity of seventy years; and likewise of all the nations round about. The date of this prophecy is in Jer 25:1; when the prophet puts the Jews in mind of the prophecies that had been delivered unto them by himself and others, for some years past, without effect, Jer 25:2-7; wherefore they are threatened with the king of Babylon, that he should come against them, and strip them of all their desirable things; make their land desolate, and them captives for seventy years, Jer 25:8-11; at the expiration of which he in his turn shall be punished, and the land of Chaldea laid waste, and become subject to other nations and kings, Jer 25:12-14; and by a cup of wine given to all the nations round about, is signified the utter ruin of them, and who are particularly mentioned by name, Jer 25:15-26; which is confirmed by beginning with the city of Jerusalem, and the destruction of that, Jer 25:27-29; wherefore the prophet is bid to prophesy against them, and to declare the Lord's controversy with them, and that there should be a slaughter of them from one end of the earth to the other, Jer 25:30-33; upon which the shepherds, kings, and rulers of them, are called to lamentation and howling, Jer 25:34-38.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.