Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh says to me: “Make bonds and bars, and put them on your neck.
- BSB This is what the LORD said to me: “Make for yourself a yoke out of leather straps and put it on your neck.
- NKJV “Thus says the Lord to me: ‘Make for yourselves bonds and yokes, and put them on your neck,
- NASB this is what the Lord has said to me: “Make for yourself restraints and yokes and put them on your neck,
- NLT This is what the Lord said to me: “Make a yoke, and fasten it on your neck with leather straps.
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 tells Jeremiah to make a yoke and wear it on his own neck as a living sign. The prophet embodies the message of submission to Babylon.
Overview
Jeremiah is commanded to perform a symbolic action, a common prophetic method of vivid teaching. The yoke of bonds and bars pictures servitude under Nebuchadnezzar that God has decreed. By wearing it himself, Jeremiah identifies with the message he proclaims to the nations. The image of the yoke later finds a gracious counterpart in Christ's easy yoke offered to the weary (Matthew 11:29-30).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Amos 7:1Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings.
- Jer 19:1–11Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter’s earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;
- Jer 27:12I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.
- Jer 13:1–11Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
- Isa 20:2–4At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
- Ezek 24:3–12And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it:
- Ezek 4:1–5Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
- Amos 7:4Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.
- Ezek 12:1–28The word of the LORD also came unto me, saying,
- 1 Kgs 11:30–31And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces:
- Jer 28:10–14Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck, and brake it.
- Jer 18:2–10Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
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 27:2 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.