Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, and of the rock of the plain,’ says Yahweh. ‘You that say, “Who would come down against us?” or “Who would enter into our homes?”
- BSB Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?”
- NKJV “Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, And rock of the plain,” says the Lord, “Who say, ‘Who shall come down against us? Or who shall enter our dwellings?’
- NASB ¶“Behold, I am against you, you inhabitant of the valley, You rocky plain,” declares the Lord, “You who say, ‘Who will come down against us? Or who will enter our dwellings?’
- NLT I will personally fight against the people in Jerusalem, that mighty fortress— the people who boast, “No one can touch us here. No one can break in here.”
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 opposes complacent Jerusalem, which feels secure in its natural defenses. Their false confidence will not protect them from Him.
Overview
The city, perched among valleys and rocky heights, trusted in its seeming invulnerability, scoffing that no one could breach it. But God declares Himself against them, exposing the folly of trusting in geography or fortifications rather than in covenant faithfulness. It is a timeless warning that no human security can stand when God Himself is the adversary, and that misplaced confidence invites judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Lam 4:12The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
- Obad 1:3–4The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
- Ezek 13:8Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.
- Jer 50:31Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.
- Jer 23:30–32Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.
- Mic 3:11The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
- Jer 49:4–5Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me?
- Ps 125:2As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.
- Jer 21:5And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.
- 2 Sam 5:6–7And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither.
- Jer 49:16Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.
- Isa 22:1The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?
- Jer 51:25Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
- Jer 7:4Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.
- Exod 13:8And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.
- Exod 13:20And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.
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 21:13 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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