But if you will not hear these words, I swear by Myself,” says the Lord, “that this house shall become a desolation.” ’ ”
Parallel translations
- WEB But if you will not hear these words, I swear by myself,” says Yahweh, “that this house shall become a desolation.”’”
- KJV But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.
- BSB But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by Myself, declares the LORD, that this house will become a pile of rubble.’”
- NASB But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself,” declares the Lord, “that this house will become a place of ruins.” ’ ”
- NLT But if you refuse to pay attention to this warning, I swear by my own name, says the Lord, that this palace will become a pile of rubble.’”
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
If the kings refuse to obey, God swears the palace will become a ruin. Persistent disobedience guarantees desolation.
Overview
God binds the warning with an oath sworn by Himself, the strongest possible assurance, that the royal house faces ruin if it spurns His word. The solemnity underscores that the choice between blessing and judgment is real and weighty. History confirmed the warning when Jerusalem fell, demonstrating that God's threats, like His promises, are utterly certain.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Amos 6:8“The Lord Yahweh has sworn by himself,” says Yahweh, the God of Armies: “I abhor the pride of Jacob, and detest his fortresses. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.
- Jer 17:27But if you will not listen to me to make the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.”’”
- Heb 6:13For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself,
- Gen 22:16and said, “I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,
- Deut 32:40–42For I lift up my hand to heaven and declare, as I live forever,
- Jer 7:13–14Now, because you have done all these works,” says Yahweh, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you didn’t hear; and I called you, but you didn’t answer:
- Isa 1:20but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.”
- Jer 26:6–9then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.”’”
- Jer 39:8The Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.
- 2 Chr 7:19But if you turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
- Heb 3:18To whom did he swear that they wouldn’t enter into his rest, but to those who were disobedient?
- Amos 8:7–8Yahweh has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “Surely I will never forget any of their works.
- Heb 6:17In this way God, being determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath;
- Num 14:28–30Tell them, ‘As I live, says Yahweh, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you.
- 2 Chr 7:22They shall answer, ‘Because they abandoned Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and took other gods, worshiped them, and served them. Therefore he has brought all this evil on them.’”
- Ps 95:11Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They won’t enter into my rest.”
- Mic 3:12Therefore Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of a forest.
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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 22:5 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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