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The anger of the Lord will not turn back Until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.
Jeremiah 23:20 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Yahweh’s anger shall not return, until he has executed, and until he has performed the intents of his heart. In the latter days, you will understand it perfectly.
  • KJV The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.
  • BSB The anger of the LORD will not turn back until He has fully accomplished the purposes of His heart. In the days to come you will understand this clearly.
  • NASB “The anger of the Lord will not turn back Until He has performed and carried out the purposes of His heart; In the last days you will clearly understand it.
  • NLT The anger of the Lord will not diminish until it has finished all he has planned. In the days to come you will understand all this very clearly.

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's anger will not relent until He fully accomplishes His purposes, and in the last days they will understand. His judgment is certain and will be vindicated in the end.

Overview

The LORD declares that His wrath will not turn back until His settled intentions are carried out, and that in the latter days people will grasp its meaning clearly. This points beyond the immediate judgment to God's ultimate purposes in history. It assures that God's justice, though sometimes misunderstood now, will be fully understood and vindicated in the end, when His redemptive plan reaches completion.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Jer 30:24The fierce anger of Yahweh will not return, until he has executed, and until he has performed the intentions of his heart. In the latter days you will understand it.”
  • Isa 55:11so is my word that goes out of my mouth: it will not return to me void, but it will accomplish that which I please, and it will prosper in the thing I sent it to do.
  • Isa 14:24Yahweh of Armies has sworn, saying, “Surely, as I have thought, so shall it happen; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
  • Zech 1:6But my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, didn’t they overtake your fathers? “Then they repented and said, ‘Just as Yahweh of Armies determined to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our practices, so he has dealt with us.’”
  • Gen 49:1Jacob called to his sons, and said: “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come.
  • Prov 21:30There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against Yahweh.
  • Deut 31:29–30For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will happen to you in the latter days; because you will do that which is evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.”
  • 2 Kgs 23:26Notwithstanding, Yahweh didn’t turn from the fierceness of his great wrath, with which his anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocation with which Manasseh had provoked him.
  • Prov 5:11–14You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
  • Zech 8:14–15For Yahweh of Armies says: “As I thought to do evil to you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and I didn’t repent;
  • 1 Kgs 8:47yet if they repent in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of those who carried them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have done perversely; we have dealt wickedly;’
  • Hos 3:4–5For the children of Israel shall live many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without sacred stone, and without ephod or idols.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

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 23:20YouTube · 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 23:20 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.