Jeremiah 11:20

20 But, Lord All-Powerful, you are a fair judge. You know how to test peoples' hearts and minds. I have told you what I have against them. So let me see you give them the punishment they deserve.

Jeremiah 11:20 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 11:20

But, O Lord of hosts, that judgest righteously
This is the prophet's appeal to God, as the Judge of the whole earth, who will do right; he found there was no justice to be done him among men; he therefore has recourse to a righteous God, who he knew judged righteous judgment: that triest the reins and the heart;
of all men; as of his own, so of his enemies; and which he mentions, not so much on his own account as theirs: let me see thy vengeance on them;
which imprecation arose from a pure zeal for God, for his glory, and the honour of his justice; and not from private revenge; and so no ways inconsistent with the character of a good man; though some consider the words as a prediction of what would befall them, and he should live to see accomplished; and render them, "I shall see &c." F17; and so the Targum,

``I shall see the vengeance of thy judgment on them:''
for unto thee have I revealed my cause;
as a client to his patron; told his whole case, and left it with him, believing he would manage it for him, and do him justice. The Apostle Peter seems to have this passage in view, when speaking of Christ, ( 1 Peter 2:23 ) .
FOOTNOTES:

F17 (hara) "videbo", Munster, Schmidt; "visurus sum", Junius & Tremellius.

Jeremiah 11:20 In-Context

18 The Lord showed me that men were making plans against me. Because he showed me what they were doing, I knew they were against me.
19 Before this, I was like a gentle lamb waiting to be butchered. I did not know they had made plans against me, saying: "Let us destroy the tree and its fruit. Let's kill him so people will forget him."
20 But, Lord All-Powerful, you are a fair judge. You know how to test peoples' hearts and minds. I have told you what I have against them. So let me see you give them the punishment they deserve.
21 So the Lord speaks about the men from Anathoth who plan to kill Jeremiah and say, "Don't prophesy in the name of the Lord, or we will kill you!"
22 So this is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "I will soon punish the men from Anathoth. Their young men will die in war. Their sons and daughters will die from hunger.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.