At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed.
Parallel translations
- WEB At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it;
- KJV At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
- NKJV The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it,
- NASB At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot it, to tear it down, or to destroy it;
- NLT If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed,
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
At any moment God may announce that a nation will be uprooted and destroyed. His word governs the fate of peoples.
Overview
God describes his sovereign right to decree judgment upon a nation, pulling it up and breaking it down. This echoes Jeremiah's commission to pluck up and break down (1:10). The verse sets up the principle that such announcements are not always unconditional but may turn on the nation's response.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Jer 1:10See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.”
- Jer 45:4Thus Jeremiah was to say to Baruch: “This is what the LORD says: Throughout the land I will demolish what I have built and uproot what I have planted.
- Jer 12:14–17This is what the LORD says: “As for all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them.
- Amos 9:8Surely the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” declares the LORD.
- Jonah 3:4On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”
- Jer 25:9–14behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
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 18:7 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.