With you I shatter the horse and rider; with you I shatter the chariot and driver.
Parallel translations
- WEB With you I will break in pieces the horse and his rider.
- KJV And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;
- NKJV With you I will break in pieces the horse and its rider; With you I will break in pieces the chariot and its rider;
- NASB “With you I shatter the horse and his rider, And with you I shatter the chariot and its rider,
- NLT With you I will shatter armies— destroying the horse and rider, the chariot and charioteer.
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
With this instrument God breaks in pieces the horse and its rider. No cavalry or warrior escapes the shattering judgment of God.
Overview
This begins a drumbeat refrain ('with you I will break in pieces') listing every category of life and society overthrown. Horse and rider, symbols of military might, are crushed first, recalling the defeat of Egypt's chariots at the Red Sea. The repetition stresses the total reach of God's judgment over all human power, before which only Christ provides refuge.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Exod 15:1Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted. The horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.
- Zech 10:5They will be like mighty men in battle, trampling the enemy in the mire of the streets. They will fight because the LORD is with them, and they will put the horsemen to shame.
- Hag 2:22I will overturn royal thrones and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations. I will overturn chariots and their riders; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.
- Nah 2:13“Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will send your chariots up in smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voices of your messengers will no longer be heard.”
- Mic 5:10“In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will remove your horses from among you and wreck your chariots.
- Zech 12:4On that day, declares the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and every rider with madness. I will keep a watchful eye on the house of Judah, but I will strike with blindness all the horses of the nations.
- Rev 19:18so that you may eat the flesh of kings and commanders and mighty men, of horses and riders, of everyone slave and free, small and great.”
- Ps 46:9He makes wars to cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire.
- Jer 50:37A sword is against her horses and chariots and against all the foreigners in her midst, and they will become like women. A sword is against her treasuries, and they will be plundered.
- Exod 15:21And Miriam sang back to them: “Sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; the horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.”
- Ezek 39:20And at My table you will eat your fill of horses and riders, of mighty men and warriors of every kind,’ declares the Lord GOD.
- Ps 76:6At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both horse and rider lie stunned.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 51:21 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.