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Wednesday, April 30th, 2025
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Read the Bible

Revised Standard Version

Jeremiah 29:17

'Thus says the LORD of hosts, Behold, I am sending on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs which are so bad they cannot be eaten.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Captivity;   Famine;   Wicked (People);   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Fig-Tree, the;   Plague or Pestilence, the;  

Dictionaries:

- Fausset Bible Dictionary - Canon of the Old Testament;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Apocrypha;   Jeremiah;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Greek Versions of Ot;   Jeremiah;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Pestilence ;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Zedekiah;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Fig;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
This is what the Lord of Armies says: “I am about to send sword, famine, and plague against them, and I will make them like rotten figs that are inedible because they are so bad.
Hebrew Names Version
thus says the LORD of Hosts; Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that can't be eaten, they are so bad.
King James Version
Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
English Standard Version
‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, I am sending on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten.
New American Standard Bible
this is what the LORD of armies says: 'Behold, I am sending upon them the sword, famine, and plague; and I will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness.
New Century Version
The Lord All-Powerful says: "I will soon send war, hunger, and terrible diseases against those still in Jerusalem. I will make them like bad figs that are too rotten to eat.
Amplified Bible
thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Behold (listen very carefully), I am sending the sword, famine, and virulent disease (pestilence) on them, and I will make them like rotten figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten.
World English Bible
thus says Yahweh of Hosts; Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that can't be eaten, they are so bad.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Euen thus sayth the Lorde of hostes, Beholde, I will sende vpon them the sworde, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figges, that cannot bee eaten, they are so naughtie.
Legacy Standard Bible
thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Behold, I am sending upon them the sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like split-open figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness.
Berean Standard Bible
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: "I will send against them sword, famine, and plague, and I will make them like rotten figs, so bad that they cannot be eaten.
Complete Jewish Bible
thus says Adonai -Tzva'ot: ‘I will attack them with sword, famine and plague; I will make them like bad figs, so bad they are inedible.
Darby Translation
thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I will send against them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like the vile figs, that cannot be eaten for badness.
Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord All-Powerful says, "I will soon bring war, hunger, and disease against those who are still in Jerusalem. And I will make them the same as bad figs that are too rotten to eat.
George Lamsa Translation
Thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will send upon them the sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like bad figs which are so bad that they cannot be eaten.
Good News Translation
The Lord Almighty says, ‘I am bringing war, starvation, and disease on them, and I will make them like figs that are too rotten to be eaten.
Lexham English Bible
thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Look, I am going to send among them the sword, the famine, and the plague, and I will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten because of their bad quality.
Literal Translation
so says Jehovah of Hosts, Behold, I am sending among them the sword, the famine, and the plague. And have given them up as figs that are vile, which cannot be eaten from badness.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thus (I saye) speaketh the LORDE of hoostes: Beholde, I wil sende a swearde, honger & pestilence vpon them, & wil make them like vntymely fyges, that maye not be eate for bytternes.
American Standard Version
thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.
Bible in Basic English
This is what the Lord of armies has said: See, I will send on them the sword and need of food and disease, and will make them like bad figs, which are of no use for food, they are so bad.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
thus saith the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.
King James Version (1611)
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Beholde, I will send vpon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figges, that cannot be eaten, they are so euill.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Thus [I say] speaketh the Lorde of hoastes, Beholde I wyll sende a sworde, hunger, and pestilence vpon them, and wyll make them lyke vntymely figges that may not be eaten for bitternesse:
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Idumea shall be a desert: every one that passes by shall hiss at it.
English Revised Version
thus saith the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The Lord of oostis seith these thingis, Lo! Y schal sende among hem swerd, and hungur, and pestilence; and Y schal sette hem as yuele figis, that moun not be etun, for tho ben ful yuele.
Update Bible Version
this is what Yahweh of Hosts says; Look, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that can't be eaten, they are so bad.
Webster's Bible Translation
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.
New English Translation
The Lord who rules over all says, ‘I will bring war, starvation, and disease on them. I will treat them like figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten.
New King James Version
thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.
New Living Translation
This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies says: "I will send war, famine, and disease upon them and make them like bad figs, too rotten to eat.
New Life Bible
The Lord of All says, ‘I am sending the sword, hunger, and disease upon them. I will make them like bad figs which are so bad they cannot be eaten.
New Revised Standard
Thus says the Lord of hosts, I am going to let loose on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like rotten figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Behold me! sending upon them sword famine, and pestilence, - So will I make them like the horrid figs, that cannot be eaten for badness;
Douay-Rheims Bible
Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold I will send upon them the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence: and I will make them like bad figs that cannot be eaten, because they are very bad.
Young's Literal Translation
Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, Lo, I am sending among them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and I have given them up as figs that [are] vile, that are not eaten for badness.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Behold, I am sending upon them the sword, famine and pestilence, and I will make them like split-open figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness.

Contextual Overview

15 "Because you have said, 'The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,' -- 16 Thus says the LORD concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile: 17 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, Behold, I am sending on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs which are so bad they cannot be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 19 because they did not heed my words, says the LORD, which I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, says the LORD.' -- 20 Hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 21 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kola'iah and Zedeki'ah the son of Ma-asei'ah, who are prophesying a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon, and he shall slay them before your eyes. 22 Because of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: "The LORD make you like Zedeki'ah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire," 23 because they have committed folly in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and they have spoken in my name lying words which I did not command them. I am the one who knows, and I am witness, says the LORD.'"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Behold: Jeremiah 29:18, Jeremiah 15:2, Jeremiah 15:3, Jeremiah 24:8-10, Jeremiah 34:17-22, Jeremiah 43:11, Jeremiah 52:6, Ezekiel 5:12-17, Ezekiel 14:12-21, Luke 21:11, Luke 21:23

them like: Jeremiah 24:1-3, Jeremiah 24:8

Reciprocal: Leviticus 26:25 - I will send Jeremiah 9:16 - and I Jeremiah 14:12 - but Jeremiah 22:2 - that sittest Jeremiah 36:31 - will bring

Cross-References

Genesis 12:11
When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sar'ai his wife, "I know that you are a woman beautiful to behold;
Genesis 24:16
The maiden was very fair to look upon, a virgin, whom no man had known. She went down to the spring, and filled her jar, and came up.
Genesis 29:1
Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the people of the east.
Genesis 29:2
As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and lo, three flocks of sheep lying beside it; for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well's mouth was large,
Genesis 29:6
He said to them, "Is it well with him?" They said, "It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!"
Genesis 29:12
And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's kinsman, and that he was Rebekah's son; and she ran and told her father.
Genesis 29:18
Jacob loved Rachel; and he said, "I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel."
Genesis 29:19
Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me."
Genesis 29:20
So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.
Genesis 29:22
So Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, behold, I will send upon them the sword,.... The sword of the Chaldeans, by which many of them should fall, as they did. The Targum is,

"I will send upon them those that kill with the sword:''

who, though they were prompted to come against the Jews, through a natural and ambitious desire of conquering and plundering, yet were sent of God; nor would they have come, had he not willed and suffered it:

the famine and the pestilence; to destroy others that escaped the sword; both these raged while Jerusalem was besieged by the Chaldeans:

and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil; to which they are compared, Jeremiah 24:8. The sense is, that as they had made themselves wicked and corrupt, like naughty and rotten figs, so the Lord would deal with them as men do with such, cast them away, as good for nothing. The word z for "vile" signifies something horrible; and designs such figs so bad, that they even strike the eater of them with horror.

z כתאנים השערים "tanquam ficus horrendas", Junius Tremellius, Piscator so Stockius, p. 1129.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

These verses are not in the Septuagint. But the text of the Septuagint is here throughout so brief and confused as to be explicable only on the supposition, that it represents what was left behind in Egypt when Jeremiah died, copied probably with extreme haste, and with no opportunity of careful collation afterward. On the other hand the Hebrew text represents no hurried transcript, but the original manuscript, and is especially trustworthy in the case of these letters sent to Babylon (see also Jeremiah 51:0), because the originals of them would be available for collation with the text preserved by Jeremiah himself. The verses were probably intended to allay excitement in Babylon consequent upon the knowledge that the representatives of various kings were assembled at that very time at Jerusalem to form a coalition against Babylon Jeremiah 27:3.

Jeremiah 29:17

Vile - The word does not occur elsewhere, but comes from a root signifying to shudder, and thus has an intense meaning.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 29:17. Behold, I will send upon them the sword — Do not envy the state of Zedekiah who sits on the throne of David, nor that of the people who are now in the land whence ye have been carried captive, (Jeremiah 29:16,) for "I will send the sword, the pestilence, and the famine upon them;" and afterwards shall cause them to be carried into a miserable captivity in all nations, (Jeremiah 29:18;) but ye see the worst of your own case, and you have God's promise of enlargement when the proper time is come. The reader will not forget that the prophet is addressing the captives in Babylon.


 
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