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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.
- Ps 35:7For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.
- Ps 106:23Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.
- 1 Sam 24:17–19And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.
- Ps 35:12They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul.
- Jer 18:22Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.
- Ps 109:4–5For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.
- Eccl 10:8He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
- Prov 26:27Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him.
- Ps 119:95The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies.
- Zech 3:1–2And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
- Job 6:27Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend.
- Jer 14:7–11O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name’s sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
- Gen 18:22–32And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
- John 15:25But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
- Ps 7:15He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
- Ezek 22:30–31And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
- John 10:32Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
- Ps 38:20They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.
- Prov 17:13Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.
- Jer 7:16Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.
- Jer 14:20We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
- Jer 11:14Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.
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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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