‘Alas, O sword of the LORD, how long until you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still!’
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘You sword of Yahweh, how long will it be before you are quiet? Put yourself back into your scabbard; rest, and be still.’
- KJV O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
- NKJV “O you sword of the Lord, How long until you are quiet? Put yourself up into your scabbard, Rest and be still!
- NASB “Ah, sword of the Lord, How long will you not be quiet? Withdraw into your sheath; Rest and stay still.
- NLT “Now, O sword of the Lord, when will you be at rest again? Go back into your sheath; rest and be still.
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
The land cries out for the LORD's sword to stop and return to its sheath.
Overview
In poignant personification, the anguished people plead for the sword of judgment to rest and be still. The cry expresses the longing for the war to end, but it cannot dictate God's timing. It reminds readers that judgment proceeds at the LORD's command, and true rest is found only when His justice is satisfied, fully accomplished at the cross.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ezek 21:3–5and tell her that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.
- Jer 12:12Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the sword of the LORD devours from one end of the earth to the other. No flesh has peace.
- John 18:11“Put your sword back in its sheath!” Jesus said to Peter. “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given Me?”
- Ezek 21:30Return the sword to its sheath! In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you.
- Jer 12:4How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.”
- Jer 4:21How long must I see the signal flag and hear the sound of the horn?
- Deut 32:41–42when I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me.
- 2 Sam 2:26Then Abner called out to Joab: “Must the sword devour forever? Do you not realize that this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?”
- 1 Chr 21:27Then the LORD spoke to the angel, who put his sword back into its sheath.
- Isa 10:15Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!
- Isa 10:5Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.
- Jer 15:3I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.
- Ezek 14:17Or if I bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through it,’ so that I cut off from it both man and beast,
- Jer 25:27“Then you are to tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, because of the sword I will send among you.’
- Ps 17:13Arise, O LORD, confront them! Bring them to their knees; deliver me from the wicked by Your sword,
- Jer 51:20–23“You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.
Resources, by level
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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 47:6 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.