Jeremiah 49:11

Bible in Basic English

Put in my care your children who have no father, and I will keep them safe; and let your widows put their faith in me.

Parallel Translations

Legacy Standard Bible
Leave your orphans behind, I will keep them alive;And let your widows trust in Me."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Leave your orphans behind, I will keep them alive; And let your widows trust in Me."

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Thou shalt leaue thy fatherlesse chyldren behynde thee, and I wyll kepe them, and thy wydowes shal take their comfort in me.

Darby Translation
Leave thine orphans, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.

New King James Version
Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; And let your widows trust in Me."

Literal Translation
Leave your orphans, I will keep them alive. And let your widows trust in Me.

World English Bible
Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me.

King James Version (1611)
Leaue thy fatherlesse children, I will preserue them aliue: and let thy widowes trust in me.

King James Version
Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thou shalt leaue thy fatherlesse children behinde the, and I will kepe them and thy wydowes shall take their comforth in me.

Amplified Bible
"Leave your orphans behind; I will [do what is needed to] keep them alive. And let [those who are] your widows trust and confide in Me."

American Standard Version
Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.

Revised Standard Version
Leave your fatherless children, I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in me."

Update Bible Version
Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me.

Webster's Bible Translation
Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve [them] alive; and let thy widows trust in me.

New Century Version
Leave the orphans, and I will take care of them. Your widows also can trust in me."

New English Translation
Leave your orphans behind and I will keep them alive. Your widows too can depend on me."

Contemporary English Version
But I can be trusted to care for your orphans and widows.

Complete Jewish Bible
Leave your orphans; I will keep them alive; let your widows trust in me."

Geneva Bible (1587)
Leaue thy fathers children, and I will preserue them aliue, and let thy widowes trust in me.

George Lamsa Translation
Leave your fatherless children; I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me.

Hebrew Names Version
Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Leave thy fatherless children, I will rear them, and let thy widows trust in Me.

New Living Translation
But I will protect the orphans who remain among you. Your widows, too, can depend on me for help."

New Life Bible
Leave your children behind, who have lost their parents, and I will keep them alive. And let your women whose husbands have died trust in Me."

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the Lord: for I am with you, to deliver you, and save you out of their hand.

English Revised Version
Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.

Berean Standard Bible
Abandon your orphans; I will preserve their lives. Let your widows trust in Me."

New Revised Standard
Leave your orphans, I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in me.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Leave thy fatherless children I, will preserve them alive, - And thy widows, In me, let them trust.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Leave thy fatherless children: I will make them live: and thy widows shall hope in me.

Lexham English Bible
Leave your orphans. I will let them live. And your widows, let them trust in me."

Easy-to-Read Version
No one will be left to care for his children. His wives will have no one to depend on."

English Standard Version
Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in me."

New American Standard Bible
"Leave your orphans behind, I will keep them alive; And let your widows trust in Me."

Good News Translation
Leave your orphans with me, and I will take care of them. Your widows can depend on me.

Christian Standard Bible®
Abandon your fatherless; I will preserve them; let your widows trust in Me.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsake thi fadirles children, and Y schal make hem to lyue, and thi widewis schulen hope in me.

Young's Literal Translation
Leave thine orphans -- I do keep alive, And thy widows -- on Me trust ye,

Contextual Overview

⁷ About Edom. This is what the Lord of armies has said. Is there no more wisdom in Teman? have wise suggestions come to an end among men of good sense? has their wisdom completely gone? ⁸ Go in flight, go back, take cover in deep places, you who are living in Dedan; for I will send the fate of Edom on him, even the time of his punishment. ⁹ If men came to get your grapes, would they not let some be uncut on the vines? if thieves came by night, would they not make waste till they had enough? ¹⁰ I have had Esau searched out, uncovering his secret places, so that he may not keep himself covered: his seed is wasted and has come to an end, and there is no help from his neighbours. ¹¹ Put in my care your children who have no father, and I will keep them safe; and let your widows put their faith in me. ¹² For the Lord has said, Those for whom the cup was not made ready will certainly be forced to take of it; and are you to go without punishment? you will not be without punishment, but will certainly be forced to take from the cup. ¹³ For I have taken an oath by myself, says the Lord, that Bozrah will become a cause of wonder, a name of shame, a waste and a curse; and all its towns will be waste places for ever. ¹⁴ Word has come to me from the Lord, and a representative has been sent to the nations, to say, Come together and go up against her, and take your places for the fight. ¹⁵ For see, I have made you small among the nations, looked down on by men. ¹⁶ ••• Three dots are used where it is no longer possible to be certain of the true sense of the Hebrew words, and for this reason no attempt has been made to put them into Basic English. the pride of your heart has been a false hope, O you who are living in the cracks of the rock, keeping your place on the top of the hill: even if you made your living-place as high as the eagle, I would make you come down, says the Lord.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

thy fatherless: Deuteronomy 10:18, Psalms 10:14-18, Psalms 68:5, Psalms 82:3, Psalms 146:9, Proverbs 23:10, Proverbs 23:11, Hosea 14:3, Jonah 4:11, Malachi 3:5, James 1:27

let thy: 1 Timothy 5:5

Reciprocal: Numbers 27:7 - General Luke 4:4 - That Acts 20:32 - I commend 1 Timothy 5:3 - widows 1 Peter 3:5 - who

Cross-References

Genesis 49:1
And Jacob sent for his sons, and said, Come together, all of you, so that I may give you news of your fate in future times.

Genesis 49:3
Reuben, you are my oldest son, the first-fruit of my strength, first in pride and first in power:

1 Kings 4:20
Judah and Israel were as great in number as the sand by the seaside, and they took their food and drink with joy in their hearts.

1 Kings 4:25
So Judah and Israel were living safely, every man under his vine and his fig-tree, from Dan as far as Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.

2 Kings 18:32
Till I come and take you away to a land like yours, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vine-gardens, a land of oil-giving olives and of honey, so that life and not death may be your fate. Give no attention to Hezekiah when he says to you, The Lord will keep us safe.

Joel 3:18
And it will come about in that day that the mountains will be dropping sweet wine, and the hills will be flowing with milk, and all the streams of Judah will be flowing with water; and a fountain will come out from the house of the Lord, watering the valley of acacia-trees.

Micah 4:4
But every man will be seated under his vine and under his fig-tree, and no one will be a cause of fear to them: for the mouth of the Lord of armies has said it.

Revelation 7:14
And I said to him, My lord, you have knowledge. And he said to me, These are they who came through the great testing, and their robes have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.

Revelation 19:18
So that you may take for your food the flesh of kings, and of captains, and of strong men, and of horses and of those who are seated on them, and the flesh of all men, free and unfree, small and great.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve [them] alive,.... Leave them with me; commit them to my care; I will provide for them; they shall have food and raiment, and want nothing to make them comfortable: to have such a friend or friends, promising such things to a man, when he is obliged to flee and leave his family, or is at the point of death, serves to make him easy; but there would be none left of the Edomites to say such kind words, or do such a friendly part. Some think they are the words of God, either spoken ironically or seriously; suggesting that they should have no children or widows to leave, all should be destroyed; or, if any left, they could not expect that he would take care of them, whom they had so provoked; or that such would be their miserable case, unless he had mercy on them, and took care of their fatherless children, there would be none to do it. Others think it respects a remnant of the Edomites that should be preserved, and be converted to Christ in Gospel times. The Targum takes them to be an address to the people of Israel, paraphrasing them thus:

"you, O house of Israel, your orphans shall not be left, I will sustain them, and your widows shall trust in my word:''

which last clause we render,

let your widows trust in me; which, could they be considered as the words of God, agree well with him, who is the Father of the fatherless, and Judge of the widows, Psalms 68:5; and a great encouragement to persons, in such circumstances, to place their confidence in him; and it must be right so to do.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Edom stretched along the south of Judah from the border of Moab on the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean and the Arabian deserts, and held the same relation to Judah which Moab held toward the kingdom of Israel. Although expressly reserved from attack by Moses Deuteronomy 2:5, a long feud caused the Edomites to cherish so bitter an enmity against Judah, that they exulted with cruel joy over the capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldaeans, and showed great cruelty toward those why fled to them for refuge.

Of the prophecies against Edom the first eight verses of Obadiah are also found in Jeremiah (see the marginal references). As Jeremiah wrote before the capture of Jerusalem, and Obadiah apparently after it (see Jeremiah 49:13-14), it might seem certain that Obadiah copied from Jeremiah. Others held the reverse view; while some consider that the two prophets may both have made common use of some ancient prediction. See the introduction to Obadiah.

The prophecy is divisible into three strophes. In the first Jeremiah 49:7-13, the prophet describes Edom as terror-stricken.

Jeremiah 49:7

Teman - A strip of land on the northeast of Edom, put here for Edom generally. Its inhabitants were among those “children of the East” famed for wisdom, because of their skill in proverbs and dark sayings.

Jeremiah 49:8

Dwell deep - Jeremiah 49:30. The Dedanites, who were used to travel through the Edomite territory with their caravans, are advised to retire as far as possible into the Arabian deserts to be out of the way of the invaders.

Jeremiah 49:9

Translate it: “If vintagers come to thee, they will not leave any gleaning: if thieves by night, they will destroy their fill.”

Jeremiah 49:10

But - For. The reason why the invaders destroy Edom so completely. His secret places are the hiding-places in the mountains of Seir.

His seed - Esau’s seed, the Edomites; his brethren are the nations joined with him in the possession of the land, Amalek, and perhaps the Simeonites; his neighbors are Dedan, Tema, Buz.

Jeremiah 49:11

As with Moab Jeremiah 48:47, and Ammon Jeremiah 49:6, so there is mercy for Edom. The widows shall be protected, and in the orphans of Edom the nation shall once again revive.

Jeremiah 49:12

Translate it: “Behold they whose rule was not to drink of the cup shall surely drink etc.” It was not the ordinary manner of God’s people to suffer from His wrath: but now when they are drinking of the wine-cup of fury Jeremiah 25:15, how can those not in covenant with Him hope to escape?

Jeremiah 49:14-18

The second strophe, Edom’s chastisement.

Jeremiah 49:14

Rumour - Or, “revelation.”

Ambassador - Or, messenger, i. e., herald. The business of an ambassador is to negotiate, of a herald to carry a message.

Jeremiah 49:15

Small ... - Rather, small among the nations, i. e., of no political importance.

Jeremiah 49:16

Edom’s “terribleness” consisted in her cities being hewn in the sides of inaccessible rocks, from where she could suddenly descend for predatory warfare, and retire to her fastnesses without fear of reprisals.

The clefts of the rock - Or, the fastnesses of Sela, the rock-city, Petra (see Isaiah 16:1).

The hill - i. e., Bozrah.

Jeremiah 49:17

Better, “And Edom shall become a terror: every passer by shalt be terrified, and shudder etc.”

Jeremiah 49:18

Neighbour ... - Admah and Zeboim.

A son of man - i. e., “Any man.” From 536 a.d. onward, Petra suddenly vanishes from the pages of history. Only in the present century was its real site discovered.

Jeremiah 49:19-22

Concluding strophe. The fall of Edom is compared to the state of a flock worried by an enemy strong as a lion Jeremiah 4:7, and swift as an eagle.

Jeremiah 49:19

The swelling of Jordan - Or, the pride of Jordan, the thickets on his banks (marginal reference note).

Against the habitation of the strong - Or, to the abiding pasturage. The lion stalks forth from the jungle to attack the fold, sure to find sheep there because of the perennial (evergreen) pasturage: “but I will suddenly make him (the flock, Edom) run away from her (or it, the pasturage).”

And who is a chosen ... - Better, and I will appoint over it, the abandoned land of Edom, him who is chosen, i. e., my chosen ruler Nebuchadnezzar.

Who will appoint me the time? - The plaintiff, in giving notice of a suit, had to mention the time when the defendant must appear (see the margin). Yahweh identifies himself with Nebuchadnezzar Jeremiah 25:9, and shows the hopelessness of Edom’s cause. For who is like Yahweh, His equal in power and might? Who will dare litigate with Him, and question His right? etc.

Jeremiah 49:20

Surely the least ... - Rather, Surely they will worry them, the feeble ones of the flock: surely their pasture shall be terror-stricken over them. No shepherd can resist Nebuchadnezzar Jeremiah 49:19, but all flee, and leave the sheep unprotected. Thereupon, the Chaldaeans enter, and treat the poor feeble flock so barbarously, that the very fold is horrified at their cruelty.

Jeremiah 49:21

Is moved - Quakes.

At the cry ... - The arrangement is much more poetical in the Hebrew, The shriek - to the sea of Suph (Exodus 10:19 note) is heard its sound.

Jeremiah 49:22

Nebuchadnezzar shall swoop down like an eagle, the emblem of swiftness.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 49:11. Leave thy fatherless children — The connexion of this with the context is not easy to be discerned; but, as a general maxim, it is of great importance. Widows and orphans are the peculiar care of God. He is as the best of fathers to the one, and the most loving of husbands to the other. Even the widows and orphans of Esau, who escape the general destruction, shall be taken care of by the Lord.