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.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- 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 14:17That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
- Exod 9:2–3For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,
- Isa 58:6Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
- Jer 50:17–18Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
- Isa 47:6I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.
- Exod 9:17–18As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go?
- Exod 5:2And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.
- Exod 8:2And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:
- Isa 51:23But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.
- Isa 49:24–26Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
- Zech 1:15–16And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.
- Isa 52:4–6For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
- Jer 34:15–18And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
- Jer 51:34–36Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.
- Jer 50:7All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, 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.