“As a well keeps its waters fresh, So she keeps fresh her wickedness. Violence and destruction are heard in her; Sickness and wounds are constantly before Me.
Parallel translations
- WEB As a well produces its waters, so she produces her wickedness: violence and destruction is heard in her; before me continually is sickness and wounds.
- KJV As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds.
- BSB As a well gushes its water, so she pours out her evil. Violence and destruction resound in her; sickness and wounds are ever before Me.
- NKJV As a fountain wells up with water, So she wells up with her wickedness. Violence and plundering are heard in her. Before Me continually are grief and wounds.
- NLT She spouts evil like a fountain. Her streets echo with the sounds of violence and destruction. I always see her sickness and sores.
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
Jerusalem pours out wickedness as naturally as a well gives water, so violence and ruin are constant before God. Sin had become the city's habitual character.
Overview
The well image conveys that evil flowed from Judah continually and effortlessly, not occasionally. God says sickness and wounds are 'continually before me,' stressing that He sees every act of cruelty. This unrelenting wrongdoing is why judgment is just, and it exposes the human heart's need for the cleansing only God can give.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ezek 7:11Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness. None of them will remain, nor of their multitude, nor of their wealth. There shall be nothing of value among them.
- Jer 20:8For as often as I speak, I cry out; I cry, Violence and destruction! because Yahweh’s word has been made a reproach to me, and a derision, all day.
- Ezek 7:23“‘Make chains; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.
- Isa 57:20But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it can’t rest, and its waters cast up mire and mud.
- Jas 3:10–12Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
- Ps 55:9–11Confuse them, Lord, and confound their language, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
- Mic 2:8–10But lately my people have risen up as an enemy. You strip the robe and clothing from those who pass by without a care, returning from battle.
- Mic 7:2–3The godly man has perished out of the earth, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; every man hunts his brother with a net.
- Mic 3:9–12Please listen to this, you heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice, and pervert all equity.
- Mic 2:1–2Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.
- Mic 3:1–3I said, “Please listen, you heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: Isn’t it for you to know justice?
- Ezek 22:3–12You shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “A city that sheds blood within herself, that her time may come, and that makes idols against herself to defile her!
- Prov 4:23Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life.
- Ezek 24:7For her blood is in the middle of her; she set it on the bare rock; she didn’t pour it on the ground, to cover it with dust.
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 6:7 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.