Limitless Word
Say to the king and to the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.”
Jeremiah 13:18 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Say to the king and to the queen mother, “Humble yourselves, sit down; for your headdresses have come down, even the crown of your glory.
  • KJV Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.
  • NKJV Say to the king and to the queen mother, “Humble yourselves; Sit down, For your rule shall collapse, the crown of your glory.”
  • NASB Say to the king and the queen mother, “Take a lowly seat, For your beautiful crown Has come down from your head.”
  • NLT Say to the king and his mother, “Come down from your thrones and sit in the dust, for your glorious crowns will soon be snatched from your heads.”

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 tells the king and queen mother to humble themselves, for their crowns will fall.

Overview

Even the royal house is summoned to humility as their reign faces collapse. The fallen crown symbolizes the end of their glory and authority through judgment. This likely refers to Jehoiachin and his mother, carried into exile, showing that no earthly throne stands secure against God's word.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Jer 22:26I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another land, where neither of you were born—and there you both will die.
  • 2 Kgs 24:12Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon. So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him captive.
  • 2 Kgs 24:15Nebuchadnezzar carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, as well as the king’s mother, his wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land. He took them into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
  • 2 Chr 33:19His prayer and how God received his plea, as well as all his sin and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself, they are indeed written in the Records of the Seers.
  • 2 Chr 33:12And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers.
  • Isa 47:1“Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of Chaldea! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.
  • Exod 10:3So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.
  • 2 Chr 33:23but he did not humble himself before the LORD as his father Manasseh had done; instead, Amon increased his guilt.
  • 1 Pet 5:6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you.
  • Isa 3:26And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.
  • Matt 18:4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
  • Jonah 3:6When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
  • Jas 4:10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
  • Ezek 19:2–14and say: ‘What was your mother? A lioness among the lions! She lay down among the young lions; she reared her cubs.
  • Lam 2:10The elders of the Daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Jeremiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Jeremiah 13:18YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JeremiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 13:18 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.