Go and cry to the gods which you have chosen. Let them save you in the time of your distress!”
Parallel translations
- KJV Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.
- BSB Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you in your time of trouble.”
- NKJV “Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.”
- NASB Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.”
- NLT Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!”
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 LORD tells Israel to cry to the gods they chose and let those gods save them. The challenge exposes the impotence of their idols.
Overview
With biting irony God sends Israel to the false gods they preferred, knowing those idols can save no one. The command forces them to confront the worthlessness of their idolatry. It is a severe mercy intended to make plain that the LORD alone is Savior, deepening their need to truly return to him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Deut 32:37–38He will say, “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge;
- Jer 2:28“But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble: for you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah.
- Prov 1:25–27but you have ignored all my counsel, and wanted none of my reproof;
- Isa 10:3What will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?
- Deut 32:26–28I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men;
- 2 Kgs 3:13Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father, and to the prophets of your mother.” The king of Israel said to him, “No, for Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”
- 1 Kgs 18:27–28At noon, Elijah mocked them, and said, “Cry aloud; for he is a god. Either he is deep in thought, or he has gone somewhere, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he sleeps and must be awakened.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 10:14 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.