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.”
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?”
- KJV 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?
- 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?’
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 didn’t believe, neither did all the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy would enter into the gates of Jerusalem.
- Obad 1:3–4The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, who says in his heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’
- Ezek 13:8“‘Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Because you have spoken falsehood and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you,” says the Lord Yahweh.
- Jer 50:31“Behold, I am against you, you proud one,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies; “for your day has come, the time that I will visit you.
- Jer 23:30–32“Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says Yahweh, “who each steal my words from his neighbor.
- Mic 3:11Her leaders judge for bribes, and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money: yet they lean on Yahweh, and say, “Isn’t Yahweh among us? No disaster will come on us.”
- Jer 49:4–5Why do you boast in the valleys, your flowing valley, backsliding daughter? You trusted in her treasures, saying, ‘Who will come to me?’
- Ps 125:2As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so Yahweh surrounds his people from this time forward and forever more.
- Jer 21:5I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation.
- 2 Sam 5:6–7The king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, “The blind and the lame will keep you out of here”; thinking, “David can’t come in here.”
- Jer 49:16As for your terror, the pride of your heart has deceived you, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill, though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there,” says Yahweh.
- Isa 22:1The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?
- Jer 51:25“Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain,” says Yahweh, “which destroys all the earth. I will stretch out my hand on you, roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burned mountain.
- Jer 7:4Don’t trust in lying words, saying, ‘Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, are these.’
- Exod 13:8You shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of that which Yahweh did for me when I came out of Egypt.’
- Exod 13:20They took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.
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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
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.