When He slew them, they would seek Him; they repented and searched for God.
Parallel translations
- WEB When he killed them, then they inquired after him. They returned and sought God earnestly.
- KJV When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God.
- NKJV When He slew them, then they sought Him; And they returned and sought earnestly for God.
- NASB ¶When He killed them, then they sought Him, And they returned and searched diligently for God;
- NLT When God began killing them, they finally sought him. They repented and took God seriously.
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
When death struck, the people sought God earnestly. Calamity drove them to belated, anxious seeking.
Overview
God's judgments prompted the people to 'seek God earnestly.' Yet, as the next verses reveal, this seeking was often shallow and short-lived, driven by fear rather than love. It illustrates how affliction can awaken religious interest that, without genuine faith, does not last.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Hos 5:15Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
- Num 21:7Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so He will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses interceded for the people.
- Judg 3:12–15Once again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. So He gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.
- Judg 4:3Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, because Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he had harshly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.
- Jer 22:23O inhabitant of Lebanon, nestled in the cedars, how you will groan when pangs of anguish come upon you, agony like a woman in labor.”
- Judg 10:7–10So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and Ammonites,
- Judg 3:8–9Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram-naharaim, and the Israelites served him eight years.
- Hos 7:14They do not cry out to Me from their hearts when they wail upon their beds. They slash themselves for grain and new wine, but turn away from Me.
- Isa 26:6Feet trample it down—the feet of the oppressed, the steps of the poor.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 78:34 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.