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Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Surely you have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You shall have peace;’ whereas the sword reaches to the heart.”
Jeremiah 4:10 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.
  • BSB Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, how completely You have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ while a sword is at our throats.”
  • NKJV Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, Saying, ‘You shall have peace,’ Whereas the sword reaches to the heart.”
  • NASB Then I said, “Oh, Lord God! Surely You have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace’; yet a sword touches the throat.”
  • NLT Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, the people have been deceived by what you said, for you promised peace for Jerusalem. But the sword is held at their throats!”

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

David recalls executing the man who claimed to have killed Saul, expecting reward. That precedent foreshadows the assassins' fate.

Overview

David reminds them how he had put to death the Amalekite at Ziklag who thought news of Saul's death would earn a reward (2 Samuel 1). The reference establishes David's consistent reverence for the Lord's anointed and his refusal to profit from regicide. It signals that these murderers will fare even worse.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 20

  • 2 Th 2:9–12even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
  • Jer 5:12They have denied Yahweh, and said, “It is not he; neither shall evil come on us; neither shall we see sword nor famine.
  • Isa 37:35‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.’”
  • Jer 14:13–14Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, the prophets tell them, ‘You will not see the sword, neither shall you have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.’”
  • Isa 63:17O Yahweh, why do you make us wander from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your inheritance.
  • Ezek 11:13When I prophesied, Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down on my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah Lord Yahweh! will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?”
  • Rom 1:26For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature.
  • Jer 4:18“Your way and your doings have brought these things to you. This is your wickedness; for it is bitter, for it reaches to your heart.”
  • 1 Kgs 22:20–23Yahweh said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ One said one thing; and another said another.
  • Isa 30:10who tell the seers, “Don’t see!” and to the prophets, “Don’t prophesy to us right things. Tell us pleasant things. Prophesy deceits.
  • Rom 1:24Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves,
  • Jer 23:17They say continually to those who despise me, ‘Yahweh has said, “You shall have peace;”’ and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, ‘No evil shall come on you.’
  • Jer 6:14They have healed also the hurt of my people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace.
  • Ezek 14:9–10“‘“If the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, Yahweh, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand on him, and will destroy him from among my people Israel.
  • Jer 32:17“Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm; there is nothing too hard for you,
  • Jer 8:11They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.
  • Lam 2:21“The youth and the old man lie on the ground in the streets. My virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword. You have killed them in the day of your anger. You have slaughtered, and not pitied.
  • Exod 9:14For this time I will send all my plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your people; that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.
  • Jer 1:6Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, I don’t know how to speak; for I am a child.”
  • Rom 1:28Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

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 4:10YouTube · 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 4:10 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.