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.”
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.”
- KJV 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.
- 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.”
- 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, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he didn’t open his mouth.
- Jer 20:10For I have heard the defaming of many, “Terror on every side! Denounce, and we will denounce him!” say all my familiar friends, those who watch for my fall. “Perhaps he will be persuaded, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.”
- Ps 83:4“Come,” they say, “let’s destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”
- Jer 18:18Then they said, “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 strike him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”
- Job 28:13Man doesn’t know its price; Neither is it found in the land of the living.
- Ps 31:13For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side, while they conspire together against me, they plot to take away my life.
- Num 1:14Of Gad: Eliasaph the son of Deuel.
- Luke 20:10–15At the proper season, he sent a servant to the farmers to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the farmers beat him, and sent him away empty.
- Ps 27:13I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living.
- Ps 37:32–33The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to kill him.
- Ps 109:13Let his posterity be cut off. In the generation following let their name be blotted out.
- Prov 7:22He followed her immediately, as an ox goes to the slaughter, as a fool stepping into a noose.
- Ps 116:9I will walk before Yahweh in the land of the living.
- Isa 38:11I said, “I won’t see Yah, Yah in the land of the living. I will see man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
- Isa 32:7The ways of the scoundrel are evil. He devises wicked devices to destroy the humble with lying words, even when the needy speaks right.
- Ps 52:5God will likewise destroy you forever. He will take you up, and pluck you out of your tent, and root you out of the land of the living. Selah.
- Ps 142:5I cried to you, Yahweh. I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
- Matt 26:3–4Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas.
- Dan 9:26After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One shall be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and its end shall be with a flood, and even to the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
- Prov 10:7The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.
- Ps 35:15But in my adversity, they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together. The attackers gathered themselves together against me, and I didn’t know it. They tore at me, and didn’t cease.
- Ps 112:6For he will never be shaken. The righteous will be remembered forever.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.