But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.
Parallel translations
- WEB But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter; and I didn’t know that they had devised devices against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.”
- BSB For I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter; I did not know that they had plotted against me: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.”
- NKJV But I was like a docile lamb brought to the slaughter; and I did not know that they had devised schemes against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.”
- NASB But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; And I did not know that they had devised plots against me, saying, “Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit, And let’s cut him off from the land of the living, So that his name will no longer be remembered.”
- NLT I was like a lamb being led to the slaughter. I had no idea that they were planning to kill me! “Let’s destroy this man and all his words,” they said. “Let’s cut him down, so his name will be forgotten forever.”
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
Jeremiah was like an unsuspecting lamb led to slaughter while enemies plotted to kill him and erase his name.
Overview
The prophet's innocence and vulnerability are vividly captured in the image of a gentle lamb. His enemies sought not only his death but the obliteration of his memory and message. This lamb-led-to-slaughter language strikingly anticipates the suffering Servant and Christ Himself (Isaiah 53:7; Acts 8:32).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 22
- Isa 53:7–8He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
- Jer 20:10For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.
- Ps 83:4They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
- Jer 18:18Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
- Job 28:13Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.
- Ps 31:13For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.
- Num 1:14Of Gad; Eliasaph the son of Deuel.
- Luke 20:10–15And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty.
- Ps 27:13I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
- Ps 37:32–33The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.
- Ps 109:13Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.
- Prov 7:22He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
- Ps 116:9I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.
- Isa 38:11I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
- Isa 32:7The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.
- Ps 52:5God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.
- Ps 142:5I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.
- Matt 26:3–4Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,
- Dan 9:26And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
- Prov 10:7The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.
- Ps 35:15But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not:
- Ps 112:6Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 11:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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