Yahweh of Armies says: “The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together. All who took them captive hold them fast. They refuse to let them go.
Parallel translations
- KJV Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.
- BSB This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “The sons of Israel are oppressed, and the sons of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to release them.
- NKJV Thus says the Lord of hosts: “The children of Israel were oppressed, Along with the children of Judah; All who took them captive have held them fast; They have refused to let them go.
- NASB ¶This is what the Lord of armies says: “The sons of Israel are oppressed, And the sons of Judah as well; And all who took them captive have held them firmly, They have refused to let them go.
- NLT This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “The people of Israel and Judah have been wronged. Their captors hold them and refuse to let them go.
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
Israel and Judah are oppressed together, held fast by captors who refuse to release them. God notes the plight of His enslaved people.
Overview
The verse highlights the cruelty of Babylon, which firmly holds God's people and will not let them go. This stubborn oppression sets up the dramatic declaration of the next verse. It echoes Israel's earlier bondage in Egypt and prepares for God to act as the mighty Deliverer once more (Exodus 5:2).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Isa 14:17who made the world like a wilderness, and overthrew its cities; who didn’t release his prisoners to their home?”
- Exod 9:2–3For if you refuse to let them go, and hold them still,
- Isa 58:6“Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?
- Jer 50:17–18“Israel is a hunted sheep. The lions have driven him away. First, the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.”
- Isa 47:6I was angry with my people. I profaned my inheritance, and gave them into your hand. You showed them no mercy. You laid a very heavy yoke on the aged.
- Exod 9:17–18as you still exalt yourself against my people, that you won’t let them go.
- Exod 5:2Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I don’t know Yahweh, and moreover I will not let Israel go.”
- Exod 8:2If you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs:
- Isa 51:23and I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to your soul, ‘Bow down, that we may walk over you;’ and you have laid your back as the ground, like a street to those who walk over.”
- Isa 49:24–26Shall the plunder be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives be delivered?
- Zech 1:15–16I am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, but they added to the calamity.”
- Isa 52:4–6For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to live there: and the Assyrian has oppressed them without cause.
- Jer 34:15–18You had now turned, and had done that which is right in my eyes, in every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor; and you had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name;
- Jer 51:34–36“Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me. He has crushed me. He has made me an empty vessel. He has, like a monster, swallowed me up. He has filled his mouth with my delicacies. He has cast me out.
- Jer 50:7All who found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, ‘We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Yahweh, the habitation of righteousness, even Yahweh, the hope of their fathers.’
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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 50:33 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.