Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations;
Parallel translations
- WEB Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because they say to you, You are a devourer of men, and have been a bereaver of your nation;
- BSB For this is what the Lord GOD says: Because people say to you, ‘You devour men and deprive your nation of its children,’
- NKJV ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Because they say to you, ‘You devour men and bereave your nation of children,’
- NASB “The Lord God says this: ‘Since they say to you, “You are a devourer of people and have bereaved your nation of children,”
- NLT “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The other nations taunt you, saying, ‘Israel is a land that devours its own people and robs them of their children!’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The nations slandered the land as a devourer of people that bereaved its own nation. God acknowledges the taunt before overturning it.
Overview
The surrounding peoples mocked the land of Israel as one that 'devours men'—through famine, invasion, and the loss of its inhabitants. God repeats this reproach in order to reverse it in the following verses. The taunt reflected the very real desolation under judgment, but God will not let His land bear such shame permanently, for His people's disgrace touches His own honor.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Num 13:32And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
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Original language
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