For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy.
Parallel translations
- WEB For wasn’t Israel a derision to you? was he found among thieves? for as often as you speak of him, you shake your head.
- BSB Was not Israel your object of ridicule? Was he ever found among thieves? For whenever you speak of him you shake your head.
- NKJV For was not Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves? For whenever you speak of him, You shake your head in scorn.
- NASB Now was Israel not a laughingstock to you? Or was he caught among thieves? For whenever you speak about him you shake your head in scorn.
- NLT Did you not ridicule the people of Israel? Were they caught in the company of thieves that you should despise them as you do?
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
Moab had mocked Israel as a thief caught in the act, shaking her head in scorn, and now faces the same derision.
Overview
God recalls how Moab despised and ridiculed Israel in her troubles. Now the mocker becomes the mocked, reaping what she sowed. This reversal illustrates the biblical principle that those who scorn God's people answer to Him, and it warns against contempt that ignores our own need for mercy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Jer 2:26As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets,
- Mic 7:8–10Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
- Zeph 2:8I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.
- Ezek 25:8Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen;
- Lam 2:15–17All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?
- Ezek 26:2–3Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:
- Ezek 35:15As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
- Prov 24:17–18Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:
- Ezek 36:2Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:
- Ps 79:4We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.
- Job 16:4I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.
- Ps 44:13Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.
- Ezek 36:4Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about;
- Obad 1:12–13But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress.
- Matt 26:55In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me.
- Jer 18:16To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
- Matt 7:2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
- Matt 27:38Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.
- Zeph 2:10This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts.
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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 48:27 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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