Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.
Parallel translations
- WEB therefore Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, “Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.
- BSB Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will feed this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.
- NKJV therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.
- NASB therefore this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I will feed this people wormwood; and I will give them poisoned water to drink.
- NLT So now, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: Look! I will feed them with bitterness and give them poison to drink.
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 will feed this people bitter wormwood and poisoned water as judgment. They will taste the bitterness their sin deserves.
Overview
Yahweh announces a sentence of bitter affliction, using wormwood and 'water of gall' as images of suffering imposed on the rebellious nation. The bitterness fits the gravity of forsaking God. The verse portrays judgment as the just harvest of sin, while in the gospel Christ drinks the bitter cup of wrath in the place of His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Jer 8:14Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.
- Lam 3:15He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.
- Ps 80:5Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.
- Jer 23:15Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
- Isa 2:17And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
- Ps 75:8For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
- Deut 29:18Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;
- Ps 69:21They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
- Lam 3:19Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
- Jer 25:15For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
- Rev 8:11And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
- Ps 60:3Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.
- Isa 2:22Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
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 9:15 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.