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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.”
Jeremiah 4:10 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB 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.”
  • 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.
  • 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 2:9–12The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,
  • Jer 5:12They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine.
  • Isa 37:35‘I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
  • Jer 14:13–14“Ah, Lord GOD!” I replied, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’”
  • Isa 63:17Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
  • Ezek 11:13Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice, “Oh, Lord GOD, will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?”
  • Rom 1:26For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
  • Jer 4:18“Your ways and deeds have brought this upon you. This is your punishment; how bitter it is, because it pierces to the heart!”
  • 1 Kgs 22:20–23And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to march up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one suggested this, and another that.
  • Isa 30:10They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.
  • Rom 1:24Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.
  • Jer 23:17They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD says that you will have peace,’ and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’
  • Jer 6:14They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all.
  • Ezek 14:9–10But if the prophet is enticed to speak a message, then it was I the LORD who enticed him, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.
  • Jer 32:17“Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!
  • Jer 8:11They dress the wound of the daughter of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all.
  • Lam 2:21Both young and old lie together in the dust of the streets. My young men and maidens have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of Your anger; You have slaughtered them without compassion.
  • Exod 9:14Otherwise, I will send all My plagues against you and your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth.
  • Jer 1:6“Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!”
  • Rom 1:28Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

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.