So put on sackcloth, mourn and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us.”
Parallel translations
- WEB For this clothe yourself with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of Yahweh hasn’t turned back from us.
- KJV For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
- NKJV For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth, Lament and wail. For the fierce anger of the Lord Has not turned back from us.
- NASB “For this, put on sackcloth, Mourn and wail; For the fierce anger of the Lord Has not turned away from us.”
- NLT So put on clothes of mourning and weep with broken hearts, for the fierce anger of the Lord is still upon us.
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
They present Ishbosheth's head to David, claiming the Lord has avenged him on Saul's house. They expect reward but invoke God's name to excuse murder.
Overview
The assassins bring the severed head to Hebron, presenting it as the Lord's vengeance on David's enemy and Saul's offspring. They presume David will rejoice at the death of his rival and reward them. Their attempt to clothe a treacherous murder in pious language profoundly misreads David, who never sought the throne through bloodshed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Isa 22:12On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.
- Jer 6:26O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
- Isa 32:11Shudder, you ladies of leisure; tremble, you daughters of complacency. Strip yourselves bare and put sackcloth around your waists.
- Isa 10:4Nothing will remain but to crouch among the captives or fall among the slain. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
- Isa 5:25Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lay like refuse in the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
- Amos 8:10I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.
- Joel 2:12–13“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”
- Isa 13:6Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- Jer 30:24The fierce 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.
- Isa 9:17Therefore the Lord takes no pleasure in their young men; He has no compassion on their fatherless and widows. For every one of them is godless and wicked, and every mouth speaks folly. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
- Isa 15:2–3Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off.
- Isa 9:21Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; together they turn against Judah. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
- Ezek 21:12Cry out and wail, O son of man, for the sword is wielded against My people; it is against all the princes of Israel! They are tossed to the sword with My people; therefore strike your thigh.
- Isa 9:12Aram from the east and Philistia from the west have devoured Israel with open mouths. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
- Ps 78:49He unleashed His fury against them, wrath, indignation, and calamity—a band of destroying angels.
- Num 25:4Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that His fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”
- Jer 48:20Moab is put to shame, for it has been shattered. Wail and cry out! Declare by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.
- Ezek 30:2“Son of man, prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Wail, ‘Alas for that day!’
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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 4:8 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
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