And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
Parallel translations
- WEB I will prepare destroyers against you, everyone with his weapons, and they will cut down your choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
- BSB I will appoint destroyers against you, each man with his weapons, and they will cut down the choicest of your cedars and throw them into the fire.
- NKJV I will prepare destroyers against you, Everyone with his weapons; They shall cut down your choice cedars And cast them into the fire.
- NASB “For I will set apart destroyers against you, Each with his weapons; And they will cut down your choicest cedars And throw them on the fire.
- NLT I will call for wreckers, who will bring out their tools to dismantle you. They will tear out all your fine cedar beams and throw them on the fire.
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 will commission destroyers to cut down the palace's prized cedars and burn them. The very symbols of royal pride will be consumed.
Overview
The choice cedars represented the splendor and self-confidence of the monarchy, but God appoints destroyers, the Babylonians, to fell and burn them. This continues the forest imagery to depict total devastation of the royal estate. The passage exposes the emptiness of trusting in luxury and human achievement, directing hope instead toward a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Isa 37:24By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.
- Isa 10:33–34Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.
- Jer 4:6–7Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
- Isa 13:3–5I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.
- Jer 21:14But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.
- Ezek 9:1–7He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
- Matt 22:7But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
- Zech 11:1Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.
- Isa 27:10–11Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.
- Isa 54:16–17Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
- Jer 5:15Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.
- Jer 50:20–23In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.
- Isa 10:3–7And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?
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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 22:7 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.