Be forewarned, O Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you; I will make you a desolation, a land without inhabitant.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Be instructed, Jerusalem, lest my soul be alienated from you; lest I make you a desolation, a land not inhabited.”
- KJV Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
- NKJV Be instructed, O Jerusalem, Lest My soul depart from you; Lest I make you desolate, A land not inhabited.”
- NASB “Be warned, Jerusalem, Or I shall be alienated from you, And make you a desolation, An uninhabited land.”
- NLT Listen to this warning, Jerusalem, or I will turn from you in disgust. Listen, or I will turn you into a heap of ruins, a land where no one lives.”
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
God pleads with Jerusalem to take correction before He turns away and makes the land desolate. Even amid warnings of doom, He holds out a path of repentance.
Overview
The tone shifts to tender appeal: 'Be instructed.' God warns that persistent sin will alienate His favor and leave the land empty. Yet the very warning is an invitation, revealing a God who would rather restore than ruin, foreshadowing the patient mercy fully displayed in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Hos 9:12Even if they raise their children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe be to them when I turn away from them!
- Ezek 23:18When Oholibah openly prostituted herself and exposed her nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister.
- Jer 17:23Yet they would not listen or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and would not listen or receive My discipline.
- Zeph 3:7I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me and accept correction.’ Then her dwelling place would not be cut off despite all for which I punished her. But they rose early to corrupt all their deeds.
- Jer 32:33They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.
- Jer 35:13–15“This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Go and tell the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem: ‘Will you not accept discipline and obey My words?’ declares the LORD.
- Ps 50:17For you hate My instruction and cast My words behind you.
- Ps 2:10Therefore be wise, O kings; be admonished, O judges of the earth.
- Jer 2:15The young lions have roared at him; they have growled with a loud voice. They have laid waste his land; his cities lie in ruins, without inhabitant.
- Jer 4:14Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?
- Jer 7:3–7Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Correct your ways and deeds, and I will let you live in this place.
- Prov 4:13Hold on to instruction; do not let go. Guard it, for it is your life.
- Jer 7:34I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.”
- Jer 9:11“And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
- Deut 32:29If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.
- Lev 26:34Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths all the days it lies desolate, while you are in the land of your enemies. At that time the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths.
- Zech 11:8–9And in one month I dismissed three shepherds. My soul grew impatient with the flock, and their souls also detested me.
- Jer 7:20Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and the produce of the land, and it will burn and not be extinguished.
- Jer 31:19After I returned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
- Ps 94:12Blessed is the man You discipline, O LORD, and teach from Your law,
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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 6:8 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.