Lift up your eyes and see those coming from the north. Where is the flock entrusted to you, the sheep that were your pride?
Parallel translations
- WEB Lift up your eyes, and see those who come from the north. where is the flock that was given you, your beautiful flock?
- KJV Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
- NKJV Lift up your eyes and see Those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you, Your beautiful sheep?
- NASB ¶“Raise your eyes and see Those coming from the north. Where is the flock that was given you, Your beautiful sheep?
- NLT Open up your eyes and see the armies marching down from the north! Where is your flock— your beautiful flock— that he gave you to care for?
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
God asks Jerusalem to behold the enemy from the north and account for the flock entrusted to her.
Overview
The threat 'from the north' is Babylon, God's instrument of judgment. The lost 'beautiful flock' represents the people the leaders failed to shepherd faithfully. The questioning tone holds the nation accountable for the ruin its unfaithfulness has caused.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Jer 6:22This is what the LORD says: “Behold, an army is coming from the land of the north; a great nation is stirred up from the ends of the earth.
- Jer 23:2Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD.
- Hab 1:6For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans—that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.
- Jer 1:14Then the LORD said to me, “Disaster from the north will be poured out on all who live in the land.
- Jer 10:22Listen! The sound of a report is coming—a great commotion from the land to the north. The cities of Judah will be made a desolation, a haunt for jackals.
- Acts 20:26–29Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.
- Jer 13:17But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.
- Isa 56:9–12Come, all you beasts of the field; eat greedily, all you beasts of the forest.
- Zech 11:16–17For behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will neither care for the lost, nor seek the young, nor heal the broken, nor sustain the healthy, but he will devour the flesh of the choice sheep and tear off their hooves.
- Ezek 34:7–10Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
- John 10:12–13The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock.
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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 13:20 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.