Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your wrath from them.
Parallel translations
- WEB Shall evil be recompensed for good? For they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them.
- KJV Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.
- NKJV Shall evil be repaid for good? For they have dug a pit for my life. Remember that I stood before You To speak good for them, To turn away Your wrath from them.
- NASB Should good be repaid with evil? For they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You To speak good in their behalf, So as to turn Your wrath away from them.
- NLT Should they repay evil for good? They have dug a pit to kill me, though I pleaded for them and tried to protect them from your anger.
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 laments that his enemies repay his good with evil, having dug a pit for his life. He had even interceded for them.
Overview
The prophet protests the injustice of being met with hostility after seeking the people's welfare and standing before God to turn away wrath from them. His intercession recalls Moses and points toward Christ, who prayed for the very ones who killed him (Luke 23:34). The contrast between his good and their evil heightens the tragedy of their hardness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 23
- Ps 57:6They spread a net for my feet; my soul was despondent. They dug a pit before me, but they themselves have fallen into it! Selah
- Ps 35:7For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.
- Ps 106:23So He said He would destroy them—had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.
- 1 Sam 24:17–19and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have rewarded me with good, though I have rewarded you with evil.
- Ps 35:12They repay me evil for good, to the bereavement of my soul.
- Jer 18:22Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring raiders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet.
- Ps 109:4–5In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
- Eccl 10:8He who digs a pit may fall into it, and he who breaches a wall may be bitten by a snake.
- Prov 26:27He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.
- Ps 119:95The wicked wait to destroy me, but I will ponder Your testimonies.
- Zech 3:1–2Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
- Job 6:27You would even cast lots for an orphan and barter away your friend.
- Jer 14:7–11Although our iniquities testify against us, O LORD, act for the sake of Your name. Indeed, our rebellions are many; we have sinned against You.
- Gen 18:22–32And the two men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD.
- John 15:25But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated Me without reason.’
- Ps 7:15He has dug a hole and hollowed it out; he has fallen into a pit of his own making.
- Ezek 22:30–31I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.
- John 10:32But Jesus responded, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?”
- Ps 38:20Those who repay my good with evil attack me for pursuing the good.
- Prov 17:13If anyone returns evil for good, evil will never leave his house.
- Jer 7:16As for you, do not pray for these people, do not offer a plea or petition on their behalf, and do not beg Me, for I will not listen to you.
- Jer 14:20We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, the guilt of our fathers; indeed, we have sinned against You.
- Jer 11:14As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf, for I will not be listening when they call out to Me in their time of disaster.
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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 18:20 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
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