Why do you boast of your valleys—your valleys so fruitful, O faithless daughter? You trust in your riches and say, ‘Who can come against me?’
Parallel translations
- WEB Why do you boast in the valleys, your flowing valley, backsliding daughter? You trusted in her treasures, saying, ‘Who will come to me?’
- KJV Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me?
- NKJV Why do you boast in the valleys, Your flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? Who trusted in her treasures, saying, ‘Who will come against me?’
- NASB “How you boast about the valleys! Your valley is flowing away, You backsliding daughter Who trusts in her treasures, saying, ‘Who can come against me?’
- NLT You are proud of your fertile valleys, but they will soon be ruined. You trusted in your wealth, you rebellious daughter, and thought no one could ever harm you.
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 LORD rebukes Ammon for boasting in her fertile valleys and trusting her treasures, presuming no one would attack.
Overview
Ammon's misplaced confidence in her wealth and security is exposed as the prideful presumption of a 'backsliding daughter.' She imagined herself invulnerable. This false sense of safety in riches is a recurring warning in Scripture, which calls instead for trust in God, whose security never fails for those in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- 1 Tim 6:17Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.
- Jer 9:23This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.
- Jer 21:13Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?”
- Jer 48:7Because you trust in your works and treasures, you too will be captured, and Chemosh will go into exile with his priests and officials.
- Ps 49:6They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches.
- Ps 62:10Place no trust in extortion, or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.
- Jer 3:14“Return, O faithless children,” declares the LORD, “for I am your master, and I will take you—one from a city and two from a family—and bring you to Zion.
- Ps 52:7“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”
- Rev 18:7As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow and will never see grief.’
- Jer 49:16The terror you cause and the pride of your heart have deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks, O occupiers of the mountain summit. Though you elevate your nest like the eagle, even from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.
- Jer 7:24Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.
- Hos 4:16For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn heifer. Can the LORD now shepherd them like lambs in an open meadow?
- Prov 10:15The wealth of the rich man is his fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor.
- Obad 1:4–5Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, even from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.
- Ezek 28:4–7By your wisdom and understanding you have gained your wealth and amassed gold and silver for your treasuries.
- Isa 28:1–4Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower of his glorious splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, the pride of those overcome by wine.
- Isa 47:7–8You said, ‘I will be queen forever.’ You did not take these things to heart or consider their outcome.
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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 49:4 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.