At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
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;
- BSB At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed.
- 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 this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
- Jer 45:4Thus shalt thou say unto him, The LORD saith thus; Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even this whole land.
- Jer 12:14–17Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.
- Amos 9:8Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD.
- Jonah 3:4And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
- Jer 25:9–14Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
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.