Jeremiah 9:21

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
for Death has climbed through our windows;it has entered our fortresses,cutting off children from the streets,young men from the squares.

Hebrew Names Version
For death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces; to cut off the children from outside, [and] the young men from the streets.

King James Version
For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.

English Standard Version
For death has come up into our windows; it has entered our palaces, cutting off the children from the streets and the young men from the squares.

New American Standard Bible
For death has come up through our windows; It has entered our palaces To eliminate the children from the streets, The young men from the public squares.

New Century Version
Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our strong cities. Death has taken away our children who play in the streets and the young men who meet in the city squares.

Amplified Bible
For death has come up through our windows; It has entered our palaces, Cutting off the children from the streets And the young men from the town squares.

World English Bible
For death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces; to cut off the children from outside, [and] the young men from the streets.

Geneva Bible (1587)
For death is come vp into our windowes, and is entred into our palaces, to destroy the children without, and the yong men in the streetes.

Legacy Standard Bible
For death has come up through our windows;It has entered our palacesTo cut off the infants from the streets,The choice men from the open squares.

Berean Standard Bible
For death has climbed in through our windows; it has entered our fortresses, to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the town squares.

Contemporary English Version
'We were in our fortress, but death sneaked in through our windows. It even struck down children at play and our strongest young men.'

Complete Jewish Bible
Say: "Here is what Adonai says: ‘The corpses of people are scattered like dung in an open field, like sheaves left behind by the reaper with no one to gather them.'"

Darby Translation
For death is come up through our windows, is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from the street, the young men from the broadways.

Easy-to-Read Version
"Death has climbed in through our windows and has come into our palaces. Death has come to our children who play in the streets and to the young men who meet in the public places."

George Lamsa Translation
For death is come up into our windows and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from the streets and the young men from the broad ways.

Good News Translation
Death has come in through our windows and entered our palaces; it has cut down the children in the streets and the young men in the marketplaces.

Lexham English Bible
For death has come into our windows, it has entered into our fortresses, to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the public squares.

Literal Translation
For death has come into our windows, entering into our fortresses, to cut off the children from the street, the young men from the plazas.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Namely thus: Deeth is clymme vp in at oure wyndowes, he is come in to oure houses, to destroye the childe before the dore, & ye yonge man in the strete.

American Standard Version
For death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces; to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.

Bible in Basic English
For death has come up into our windows, forcing its way into our great houses; cutting off the children in the streets and the young men in the wide places.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Speak: Thus saith the LORD--And the carcasses of men fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, which none gathereth.'

King James Version (1611)
For death is come vp into our windowes, and is entred into our palaces, to cut off the children from without and the yong men from the streetes.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
[Namely thus] Death is climing vp in at our windowes, he is come into our houses, to destroy the chylde before the doore, and the young man in the streete.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For death has come up through your windows, it has entered into our land, to destroy the infants without, and the young men from the streets.

English Revised Version
For death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces; to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For whi deth stiede bi youre wyndows, it entride in to youre housis, to leese litle children with outforth, and yonge men fro the stretis.

Update Bible Version
For death has come up into our windows, it has entered into our palaces; to cut off the children from outside, [and] the young men from the streets.

Webster's Bible Translation
For death hath come up into our windows, [and] hath entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, [and] the young men from the streets.

New English Translation
‘Death has climbed in through our windows. It has entered into our fortified houses. It has taken away our children who play in the streets. It has taken away our young men who gather in the city squares.'

New King James Version
For death has come through our windows, Has entered our palaces, To kill off the children--no longer to be outside! And the young men--no longer on the streets!

New Living Translation
For death has crept in through our windows and has entered our mansions. It has killed off the flower of our youth: Children no longer play in the streets, and young men no longer gather in the squares.

New Life Bible
For death has come in through our windows. It has come into our beautiful houses of kings. It has cut off the children from the streets, and the young men from the open spaces of the city.

New Revised Standard
"Death has come up into our windows, it has entered our palaces, to cut off the children from the streets and the young men from the squares."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
That death Hath come up through our windows, Hath entered our palaces, - Cutting off The boy from the street, The young men from the broadways.

Douay-Rheims Bible
For death is come up through our windows, it is entered into our houses to destroy the children from without, the young men from the streets.

Revised Standard Version
For death has come up into our windows, it has entered our palaces, cutting off the children from the streets and the young men from the squares.

Young's Literal Translation
For death hath come up into our windows, It hath come into our palaces, To cut off the suckling from without, Young men from the broad places.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
For death has come up through our windows; It has entered our palaces To cut off the children from the streets, The young men from the town squares.

Contextual Overview

¹² I asked, "Is there anyone around bright enough to tell us what's going on here? Anyone who has the inside story from God and can let us in on it? "Why is the country wasted? "Why no travelers in this desert?" ¹³ God 's answer: "Because they abandoned my plain teaching. They wouldn't listen to anything I said, refused to live the way I told them to. Instead they lived any way they wanted and took up with the Baal gods, who they thought would give them what they wanted—following the example of their parents." And this is the consequence. God -of-the-Angel-Armies says so: "I'll feed them with pig slop. "I'll give them poison to drink. ¹⁶ "Then I'll scatter them far and wide among godless peoples that neither they nor their parents have ever heard of, and I'll send Death in pursuit until there's nothing left of them." ¹⁷A Message from God -of-the-Angel-Armies: "Look over the trouble we're in and call for help. Send for some singers who can help us mourn our loss. Tell them to hurry— to help us express our loss and lament, Help us get our tears flowing, make tearful music of our crying. Listen to it! Listen to that torrent of tears out of Zion: ‘We're a ruined people, we're a shamed people! We've been driven from our homes and must leave our land!'" ²⁰Mourning women! Oh, listen to God 's Message! Open your ears. Take in what he says. Teach your daughters songs for the dead and your friends the songs of heartbreak. Death has climbed in through the window, broken into our bedrooms. Children on the playgrounds drop dead, and young men and women collapse at their games. ²² Speak up! " God 's Message: "‘Dead bodies everywhere, scattered at random like sheep and goat dung in the fields, Like wheat cut down by reapers and left to rot where it falls.'"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Jeremiah 6:11, Jeremiah 15:7, 2 Chronicles 36:17, Ezekiel 9:5, Ezekiel 9:6, Ezekiel 21:14, Ezekiel 21:15, Amos 6:10, Amos 6:11

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 32:25 - sword Jeremiah 6:5 - let us destroy Jeremiah 6:21 - fathers Jeremiah 11:22 - young Jeremiah 18:21 - let their young Jeremiah 18:22 - a cry Jeremiah 19:7 - I will cause Jeremiah 25:33 - they shall not Jeremiah 44:7 - to cut Jeremiah 49:26 - General Jeremiah 50:30 - her young Jeremiah 51:3 - spare Lamentations 1:16 - my children Lamentations 1:20 - abroad Lamentations 2:21 - my virgins Lamentations 4:5 - embrace Ezekiel 5:2 - shalt burn Ezekiel 16:5 - but thou Ezekiel 24:21 - that which your soul pitieth Hosea 9:13 - shall Joel 2:9 - enter Amos 8:3 - many Zephaniah 1:17 - and their blood

Cross-References

Genesis 6:9
This is the story of Noah: Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Proverbs 20:1
Wine makes you mean, beer makes you quarrelsome— a staggering drunk is not much fun.

Ecclesiastes 7:20
There's not one totally good person on earth, Not one who is truly pure and sinless.

Revelation 3:18
"Here's what I want you to do: Buy your gold from me, gold that's been through the refiner's fire. Then you'll be rich. Buy your clothes from me, clothes designed in Heaven. You've gone around half-naked long enough. And buy medicine for your eyes from me so you can see, really see.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For death is come up into our windows,.... Their doors being shut, bolted, and barred, they thought themselves safe, but were not; the Chaldeans scaled their walls, broke in at the tops of their houses, or at their windows, and destroyed them: for the invasion of the enemy, and the manner of their entrance into them, seem to be described. Death is here represented as a person, as it sometimes is in Scripture; see Revelation 6:8 and as coming suddenly and unawares upon men, and from whom there is no escape, or any way and method of keeping him out; bolts and bars will not do; he can climb up, and go in at the window:

and is entered into our palaces; the houses of their principal men, which were well built, and most strongly fortified, these could not keep out the enemy: and death spares none, high nor low, rich nor poor; it enters the palaces of great men, as well as the cottages of the poor. The Septuagint version is, "it is entered into our land"; and so the Arabic version; only it places the phrase, "into our land", in the preceding clause; and that of "into", or "through our windows", in this:

to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets; these words are not strictly to be connected with the preceding, as though they pressed the end of death, ascending up to the windows, and entering palaces, to cut off such as were in the streets; but the words are a proposition of themselves, as the distinctive accent "athnach" shows; and must be supplied after this manner, and passing through them it goes on, "to cut off", c. and so aptly describes the invading enemy climbing the walls of the city, entering at windows, or tops of houses, upon or near the walls and, having destroyed all within, goes forth into the streets, where children were at play, and slays them and into courts or markets, where young men were employed in business, and destroys them. The Jews e interpret it of famine.

e T. Bab. Bava Kama, fol. 60. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The punishment described in general terms in the preceding three verses is now detailed at great length.

Jeremiah 9:10

The habitations i. e - the temporary encampments of the shepherds (see Jeremiah 6:3).

So that none can ... - Or, “They are parched up, with no man to pass through them; neither do they hear the voice of cattle; from the birds of the heaven even to the beasts they “are fled, they are gone.”

Jeremiah 9:11

Dragons - Rather, jackals.

Jeremiah 9:12

For what the land perisheth ... - This is the question proposed for consideration. The prophet calls upon the wise man to explain his question; that question being, Wherefore did the land perish? He follows it by the assertion of a fact: “It is parched like the wilderness with no man to pass through.”

Jeremiah 9:13

The cause of the chastisement about to fall upon Jerusalem, was their desertion of the divine Law.

Jeremiah 9:14

Imagination - Or, as in the margin.

Which their fathers taught them - It was not the sin of one generation that brought upon them chastisement: it was a sin, which had been handed down from father to son.

Jeremiah 9:15

I will feed them ... - Rather, I am feeding them. The present participle used here, followed by three verbs in the future, shows that the judgment has beam, of which the successive stages are given in the next clause.

Wormwood - See Deuteronomy 29:18, note, and for “water of gall,” Jeremiah 8:14, note.

Jeremiah 9:16

This verse is taken from Leviticus 26:33. The fulfillment of what had been so long before appointed as the penalty for the violation of Yahweh’s covenant is one of the most remarkable proofs that prophecy was something more than human foresight.

Till I have consumed them - See Jeremiah 4:27 note. How is this “consuming” consistent with the promise to the contrary there given? Because it is limited by the terms of Jeremiah 9:7. Previously to Nebuchadnezzars destruction of Jerusalem God removed into safety those in whom the nation should revive.

Jeremiah 9:17

The mourning women - Hired to attend at funerals, and by their skilled wailings aid the real mourners in giving vent to their grief. Hence, they are called “cunning,” literally “wise” women, wisdom being constantly used in Scripture for anything in which people are trained.

Jeremiah 9:18

Take up a wailing for us - i. e., for the nation once God’s chosen people, but long spiritually dead.

Jeremiah 9:19

Forsaken - Or, left: forced to abandon the land.

Because our dwellings ... - Rather, “because they have east down our dwellings.” The whole verse is a description of their sufferings. See 2 Kings 25:1-12.

Jeremiah 9:20

The command is addressed to the women because it was more especially their part to express the general feelings of the nation. See 1 Samuel 18:6; 2 Samuel 1:24. The women utter now the death-wail over the perishing nation. They are to teach their daughters and neighbors the “lamentation, i. e., dirge,” because the harvest of death would be so large that the number of trained women would not suffice.

Jeremiah 9:21

Death is come up ... - i. e., death steals silently like a thief upon his victims, and makes such havoc that there are no children left to go “without,” nor young men to frequent the open spaces in the city.

Jeremiah 9:22

The “handful” means the little bundle of grain which the reaper gathers on his arm with three or four strokes of his sickle, and then lays down. Behind the reaper came one whose business it was to gather several of these bundles, and bind them into a sheaf. Thus, death strews the ground with corpses as thickly as these handfuls lie upon the reaped land, but the corpses lie there unheeded.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 9:21. For death is come up into our windows — Here DEATH is personified, and represented as scaling their wall; and after having slain the playful children without, and the vigorous youth employed in the labours of the field, he is now come into the private houses, to destroy the aged and infirm; and into the palaces, to destroy the king and the princes.