Jeremiah 23:23

THE MESSAGE

"Am I not a God near at hand"— God 's Decree— "and not a God far off? Can anyone hide out in a corner where I can't see him?" God 's Decree. "Am I not present everywhere, whether seen or unseen?" God 's Decree.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“Am I a God who is only near”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and not a God who is far away?

Hebrew Names Version
Am I a God at hand, says the LORD, and not a God afar off?

King James Version
Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord , and not a God afar off?

English Standard Version
"Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord , and not a God far away?

New American Standard Bible
"Am I a God who is near," declares the LORD, "And not a God far off?

New Century Version
"I am a God who is near," says the Lord . "I am also a God who is far away.

Amplified Bible
"Am I a God who is at hand," says the LORD, "And not a God far away?"

World English Bible
Am I a God at hand, says Yahweh, and not a God afar off?

Geneva Bible (1587)
Am I a God at hande, saith the Lord, and not a God farre off?

Legacy Standard Bible
"Am I a God who is near," declares Yahweh,"And not a God far off?

Berean Standard Bible
"Am I only a God nearby," declares the LORD, "and not a God far away?"

Contemporary English Version
I am everywhere— both near and far,

Complete Jewish Bible
Am I God only when near," asks Adonai , "and not when far away?

Darby Translation
Am I a God at hand, saith Jehovah, and not a God afar off?

Easy-to-Read Version
This message is from the Lord . "I am God, and I am always near. I am not far away.

George Lamsa Translation
I am the God who is near, says the LORD God, and not a God afar off.

Good News Translation
"I am a God who is everywhere and not in one place only.

Lexham English Bible
Am I a God from near," declares Yahweh, "and not a God from far?

Literal Translation
Am I a God near by, says Jehovah, and not a God from afar?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Am I the God that seeth but the thinge, which is nye at honde, and not that is farre of? saieth the LORDE.

American Standard Version
Am I a God at hand, saith Jehovah, and not a God afar off?

Bible in Basic English
Am I only a God who is near, says the Lord, and not a God at a distance?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Am I a God near at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?

King James Version (1611)
Am I a God at hand, sayth the Lord, and not a God afarre off?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Am I then God that seeth but the thing whiche is nye at hande, and not that is farre of, saith the Lorde?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I am a God nigh at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off.

English Revised Version
Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Gessist thou, whether Y am God of niy, seith the Lord, and not God afer?

Update Bible Version
Am I a God at hand, says Yahweh, and not a God far off?

Webster's Bible Translation
[Am] I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off.

New English Translation
Do you people think that I am some local deity and not the transcendent God?" the Lord asks.

New King James Version
"Am I a God near at hand," says the LORD, "And not a God afar off?

New Living Translation
Am I a God who is only close at hand?" says the Lord . "No, I am far away at the same time.

New Life Bible
"Am I a God Who is near," says the Lord, "and not a God Who is far away?

New Revised Standard
Am I a God near by, says the Lord , and not a God far off?

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Am I, a God at hand, Demandeth Yahweh, And not a God afar off?

Douay-Rheims Bible
Am I, think ye, a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?

Revised Standard Version
"Am I a God at hand, says the LORD, and not a God afar off?

Young's Literal Translation
A God near [am] I -- an affirmation of Jehovah, And not a God afar off?

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Am I a God who is near," declares the LORD, "And not a God far off?

Contextual Overview

⁹ My head is reeling, my limbs are limp, I'm staggering like a drunk, seeing double from too much wine— And all because of God , because of his holy words. ¹⁰Now for what God says regarding the lying prophets: "Can you believe it? A country teeming with adulterers! faithless, promiscuous idolater-adulterers! They're a curse on the land. The land's a wasteland. Their unfaithfulness is turning the country into a cesspool, Prophets and priests devoted to desecration. They have nothing to do with me as their God. My very own Temple, mind you— mud-spattered with their crimes." God 's Decree. "But they won't get by with it. They'll find themselves on a slippery slope, Careening into the darkness, somersaulting into the pitch-black dark. I'll make them pay for their crimes. It will be the Year of Doom." God 's Decree. ¹³"Over in Samaria I saw prophets acting like silly fools—shocking! They preached using that no-god Baal for a text, messing with the minds of my people. And the Jerusalem prophets are even worse—horrible!— sex-driven, living a lie, Subsidizing a culture of wickedness, and never giving it a second thought. They're as bad as those wretches in old Sodom, the degenerates of old Gomorrah." ¹⁵ So here's the Message to the prophets from God -of-the-Angel-Armies: "I'll cook them a supper of maggoty meat with after-dinner drinks of strychnine. The Jerusalem prophets are behind all this. They're the cause of the godlessness polluting this country." ¹⁶A Message from God -of-the-Angel-Armies: "Don't listen to the sermons of the prophets. It's all hot air. Lies, lies, and more lies. They make it all up. Not a word they speak comes from me. They preach their ‘Everything Will Turn Out Fine' sermon to congregations with no taste for God, Their ‘Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen to You' sermon to people who are set in their own ways. ¹⁸"Have any of these prophets bothered to meet with me, the true God ? bothered to take in what I have to say? listened to and then lived out my Word? Look out! God 's hurricane will be let loose— my hurricane blast, Spinning the heads of the wicked like tops! God's raging anger won't let up Until I've made a clean sweep, completing the job I began. When the job's done, you'll see that it's been well done. ²¹"I never sent these prophets, but they ran anyway. I never spoke to them, but they preached away. If they'd have bothered to sit down and meet with me, they'd have preached my Message to my people. They'd have gotten them back on the right track, gotten them out of their evil ruts. ²³"Am I not a God near at hand"— God 's Decree— "and not a God far off? Can anyone hide out in a corner where I can't see him?" God 's Decree. "Am I not present everywhere, whether seen or unseen?" God 's Decree. ²⁵"I know what they're saying, all these prophets who preach lies using me as their text, saying ‘I had this dream! I had this dream!' How long do I have to put up with this? Do these prophets give two cents about me as they preach their lies and spew out their grandiose delusions? They swap dreams with one another, feed on each other's delusive dreams, trying to distract my people from me just as their ancestors were distracted by the no-god Baal. ²⁸"You prophets who do nothing but dream— go ahead and tell your silly dreams. But you prophets who have a message from me— tell it truly and faithfully. What does straw have in common with wheat? Nothing else is like God 's Decree. Isn't my Message like fire?" God 's Decree. "Isn't it like a sledgehammer busting a rock?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

1 Kings 20:23, 1 Kings 20:28, Psalms 113:5, Psalms 139:1-10, Ezekiel 20:32-35, Jonah 1:3, Jonah 1:4

Reciprocal: Genesis 11:5 - General Exodus 20:18 - they removed 2 Kings 6:12 - telleth 2 Kings 19:27 - I know Psalms 33:13 - beholdeth Psalms 94:9 - hear Psalms 139:7 - General Isaiah 37:28 - I know Jeremiah 29:23 - even I Amos 9:3 - hide Acts 17:27 - he be

Gill's Notes on the Bible

[Am] I a God at hand, saith the Lord,.... Or "near" f; that is, in heaven; and only sees, and hears, and observes persons and things there, being near unto him:

and not a God afar off? that sees, and hears, and takes notice of persons and things at a distance, even on earth. The meaning is, that he certainly was; and that persons and things on earth were as much under his cognizance and notice, as persons and things in heaven; which was quite contrary to the notions of these atheistical prophets and people; who, like Heathens, thought that God did not concern himself about persons and things on earth. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, without the interrogative, "I am a God near, saith the Lord, and not afar off". The meaning is, that God is alike near in one place as in another; which is a very great truth; and a very comfortable one it is to the people of God, to whom he is near in all places, and at all times; he is a present help in time of trouble; he is near them, to hear their cries, and grant their requests; he is near to give them assistance in a time of need, and to deliver them out of all their troubles; to afford them his gracious presence, and to indulge them with communion with himself; to communicate all good things to them; to speak comfortably to them; to take them by the hand, and lead them in the way everlasting: he is at their right hand to uphold them with his, and to strengthen them with strength in their souls; to advise and counsel, and direct them; to rebuke their enemies, and save them from them that condemn them; and indeed there are no people like them, who have God so nigh unto them, in all things they call upon him for, Deuteronomy 4:7; and though he may seem at times to be afar off, and stand at a distance from them; when he hides his face; withdraws his gracious influences; does not appear at once for their relief in distress; but suffers them to he afflicted in one way or another; yet in reality he is not; but is nigh unto them when they call upon him: and this truth is as uncomfortable and dreadful to wicked men, who cannot go from his spirit, or flee from his presence; which is everywhere, in heaven and hell, in the earth and seas, even in the uttermost parts of them; there his eye is upon them, and his right hand can reach them: he is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. The Targum is,

"I God have created the world from the beginning, saith the Lord; and I God will renew the world for the righteous;''

see 2 Peter 3:13; and some interpret the words of time, as well as of place; as if the sense was this, am I a God of late date, as the gods of the Heathens are? no, I am not: am I not a God from eternity who was before the world was, and the Creator of it, which they are not? verily I am: but the former sense is best, and most agreeable with the context, and what follows.

f מקרב "e propinquo", Junius Tremellius, Piscator "vel propinquus", Schmidt.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

At hand - Or, near. An appeal to the omnipotence of God in demonstration of the wickedness of the prophets. His power is not limited, so that He can notice only things close to Him, but is universal.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 23:23. Am I a God at hand, - and not a God afar off? — You act as if you thought I could not see you! Am I not omnipresent? Do not I fill the heavens and the earth? Jeremiah 23:24.