“Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in its wide places, if you can find a man, if there are any who does justly, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her.
Parallel translations
- KJV Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
- BSB “Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city.
- NKJV “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; See now and know; And seek in her open places If you can find a man, If there is anyone who executes judgment, Who seeks the truth, And I will pardon her.
- NASB “Roam about through the streets of Jerusalem, And look and take notice. And seek in her public squares, If you can find a person, If there is one who does justice, who seeks honesty, Then I will forgive her.
- NLT “Run up and down every street in Jerusalem,” says the Lord. “Look high and low; search throughout the city! If you can find even one just and honest person, I will not destroy the city.
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
All the tribes of Israel come to David at Hebron, acknowledging him as their kinsman. The nation finally moves to unite under him.
Overview
With Saul's house fallen, the tribes gather to David and confess, We are your bone and your flesh, affirming their shared kinship and rightful loyalty. This marks the long-awaited turning point when David is recognized by all Israel, not just Judah. The whole people coming to their shepherd-king prefigures the gathering of God's people to Christ, the true King from David's line.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 21
- Gen 18:23–32Abraham came near, and said, “Will you consume the righteous with the wicked?
- 2 Chr 16:9For Yahweh’s eyes run back and forth throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. You have done foolishly in this; for from now on you will have wars.”
- Ezek 22:30“I sought for a man among them, who should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.
- Ps 14:3They have all gone aside. They have together become corrupt. There is no one who does good, no, not one.
- Isa 59:4No one sues in righteousness, and no one pleads in truth. They trust in vanity, and speak lies. They conceive mischief, and give birth to iniquity.
- Ps 53:2–4God looks down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there are any who understood, who seek after God.
- Mic 7:1–2Misery is mine! Indeed, I am like one who gathers the summer fruits, as gleanings of the vineyard: There is no cluster of grapes to eat. My soul desires to eat the early fig.
- Isa 59:14–15Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has fallen in the street, and uprightness can’t enter.
- Prov 20:6Many men claim to be men of unfailing love, but who can find a faithful man?
- Ps 12:1For the Chief Musician; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David. Help, Yahweh; for the godly man ceases. For the faithful fail from among the children of men.
- Song 3:2I will get up now, and go about the city; in the streets and in the squares I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but I didn’t find him.
- Amos 8:12They will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will run back and forth to seek Yahweh’s word, and will not find it.
- Prov 23:23Buy the truth, and don’t sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
- Prov 2:4–6If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures:
- Zech 2:4and said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it.
- Dan 12:4But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run back and forth, and knowledge shall be increased.”
- Joel 2:9They rush on the city. They run on the wall. They climb up into the houses. They enter in at the windows like thieves.
- Prov 8:3Beside the gates, at the entry of the city, at the entry doors, she cries aloud:
- 2 Th 2:10and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
- Luke 14:21“That servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’
- 1 Kgs 19:10He said, “I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
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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 5:1 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.