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Therefore, I will contend with you again, declares the LORD, and I will bring a case against your children’s children.
Jeremiah 2:9 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB “Therefore I will yet contend with you,” says Yahweh, “and I will contend with your children’s children.
  • KJV Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children’s children will I plead.
  • NKJV “Therefore I will yet bring charges against you,” says the Lord, “And against your children’s children I will bring charges.
  • NASB ¶“Therefore I will still contend with you,” declares the Lord, “And I will contend with your sons’ sons.
  • NLT Therefore, I will bring my case against you,” says the Lord. “I will even bring charges against your children’s children in the years to come.

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 declares He will press His legal case against them and their descendants. The covenant lawsuit will continue.

Overview

Yahweh announces He will contend with Israel and even their children's children. The language is that of a sustained legal dispute over broken covenant. God's persistence here reflects both His justice in confronting sin and His commitment to His people across generations.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Ezek 20:35–36And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, where I will enter into judgment with you face to face.
  • Jer 2:35you say, ‘I am innocent. Surely His anger will turn from me.’ Behold, I will judge you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
  • Exod 20:5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
  • Mic 6:2Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel:
  • Isa 3:13The LORD arises to contend; He stands to judge the people.
  • Lev 20:5then I will set My face against that man and his family and cut off from among their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves with Molech.
  • Jer 2:29Why do you bring a case against Me? You have all rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD.
  • Hos 2:2Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adultery from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
  • Isa 43:26Remind Me, let us argue the matter together. State your case, so that you may be vindicated.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Jeremiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Jeremiah 2:9YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JeremiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 2:9 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.