Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
- BSB Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
- NKJV Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
- NASB Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
- NLT In those days when you pray, I will listen.
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 promises the exiles that when they call on Him and pray, He will listen. Exile does not cut off the line to God.
Overview
In His letter to the Babylonian captives, the LORD assures them that prayer remains effective even in a foreign land. This is part of the famous reassurance following Jeremiah 29:11, anchoring hope not in immediate rescue but in God's attentive presence. It anticipates the gospel truth that God hears all who call on Him in faith (Romans 10:13).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Matt 7:7–8Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
- Jer 33:3Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
- Ps 50:15And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
- Ps 145:19He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
- Isa 65:24And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
- Ps 10:17LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:
- Zech 13:9And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
- Jer 31:9They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
- Isa 30:19For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
- Dan 9:3–19And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
- Ezek 36:37Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.
- Ps 102:16–17When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.
- Neh 2:4–20Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 29:12 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.