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The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
Jeremiah 8:20 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”
  • BSB “The harvest has passed, the summer has ended, but we have not been saved.”
  • NKJV “The harvest is past, The summer is ended, And we are not saved!”
  • NASB “Harvest is past, summer is over, And we are not saved.”
  • NLT “The harvest is finished, and the summer is gone,” the people cry, “yet we are not saved!”

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

The people lament that harvest and summer have passed, yet they remain unsaved. The window for deliverance seems to have closed.

Overview

This proverbial cry voices despair: the seasons of opportunity are gone and rescue has not come. It captures the dread of having let the time of salvation slip away. The verse warns soberly against presuming on more time to repent and quietly commends the urgency of receiving God's salvation while it may still be found in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 5

  • Luke 13:25When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:
  • Prov 10:5He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.
  • Matt 25:1–12Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
  • Luke 19:44And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
  • Heb 3:7–15Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Jeremiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Jeremiah 8:20YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JeremiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 8:20 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.