Jeremiah 45:4

4 Thus Jeremiah was to say to Baruch: ^[a] “This is what the LORD says: Throughout the land I will demolish what I have built and uproot what I have planted.

Jeremiah 45:4 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 45:4

Thus shalt thou say unto him
This is spoken to Jeremiah, and is an order from the Lord to him, what he should say in his name to Baruch: the Lord saith thus, behold, [that] which I have built will I break
down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up;
the Jewish nation, both as to church and state; which the Lord had built up as a spacious and beautiful house to dwell in, and had planted as a vineyard, and set it with pleasant plants; but now would demolish this building, and destroy this plantation: even this whole land;
not a few cities only, or only Jerusalem the metropolis, but the whole land of Judea; no part of it but what should be left desolate. So the Targum,

``even the whole land of Israel, which is mine.''

Jeremiah 45:4 In-Context

1 This is the word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah when he wrote these words on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:

2 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch:

3 You have said, ‘Woe is me because the LORD has added sorrow to my pain! I am worn out with groaning and have found no rest.’”

4 Thus Jeremiah was to say to Baruch: “This is what the LORD says: Throughout the land I will demolish what I have built and uproot what I have planted.

5 But as for you, do you seek great things for yourself? Stop seeking! For I will bring disaster on every living creature, declares the LORD, but wherever you go, I will grant your life as a spoil of war.”

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally Thus you shall say to him: