Now, Jeremiah, say this to them: “Night and day my eyes overflow with tears. I cannot stop weeping, for my virgin daughter—my precious people— has been struck down and lies mortally wounded.
Parallel translations
- WEB “You shall say this word to them, “‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound.
- KJV Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.
- BSB You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow, a severely grievous wound.
- NKJV “Therefore you shall say this word to them: ‘Let my eyes flow with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people Has been broken with a mighty stroke, with a very severe blow.
- NASB “You will say this word to them, ‘Let my eyes stream down tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow, With a sorely infected wound.
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 commands Jeremiah to weep ceaselessly over the grievous, crushing wound of His people. Even in judgment, God's heart and His prophet's grieve over the suffering of the people.
Overview
The LORD gives Jeremiah words of unending tears for the virgin daughter of His people, broken by a severe blow. This shows that divine judgment is not cold but accompanied by sorrow over sin's devastation. It foreshadows Christ, who wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41), the suffering Savior who bears the grief of His people even as He upholds God's justice.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Jer 8:21For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt: I mourn; dismay has taken hold on me.
- Lam 1:15–16“The Lord has set at nothing all my mighty men within me. He has called a solemn assembly against me to crush my young men. The Lord has trodden as in a wine press the virgin daughter of Judah.
- Jer 13:17But if you will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride; and my eye shall weep bitterly, and run down with tears, because Yahweh’s flock is taken captive.
- Lam 2:13What shall I testify to you? what shall I liken to you, daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I compare to you, that I may comfort you, virgin daughter of Zion? For your breach is great like the sea: who can heal you?
- Jer 9:1Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a spring of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
- Mic 6:13Therefore I also have struck you with a grievous wound. I have made you desolate because of your sins.
- Lam 2:18Their heart cried to the Lord: wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night; Give yourself no respite; don’t let the apple of your eye cease.
- Ps 39:10Remove your scourge away from me. I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
- Ps 119:136Streams of tears run down my eyes, because they don’t observe your law. TZADI
- Jer 10:19Woe is me because of my injury! My wound is serious: but I said, “Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it.”
- Isa 37:22this is the word which Yahweh has spoken concerning him. The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
- Amos 5:2“The virgin of Israel has fallen; She shall rise no more. She is cast down on her land; there is no one to raise her up.”
- Jer 30:14–15All your lovers have forgotten you. They don’t seek you: for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins were increased.
- Lam 3:48–49My eye runs down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- Jer 8:18Oh that I could comfort myself against sorrow! My heart is faint within me.
- Ps 80:4–5Yahweh God of Armies, How long will you be angry against the prayer of your people?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 14:17 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.