Jeremiah 13:21
19 The cities of the Negev have been shut tight, and no one can open them. All Judah has been carried into exile, wholly taken captive.
20 Lift up your eyes and see those coming from the north. Where is the flock entrusted to you, the sheep that were your pride?
What will you say when He sets over you close allies whom you yourself trained? Will not pangs of anguish grip you, as they do a woman in labor?
22 And if you ask yourself, “Why has this happened to me?” It is because of the magnitude of your iniquity that your skirts have been stripped off and your body has been exposed.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good— you who are accustomed to doing evil.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- What will you say when He sets over you close allies whom you yourself trained? Will not pangs of anguish grip you, as they do a woman in labor?
- KJV
- What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
- WEB
- What will you say when he sets over you as head those whom you have yourself taught to be friends to you? Won’t sorrows take hold of you, as of a woman in travail?
- ASV
- What wilt thou say, when he shall set over thee as head those whom thou hast thyself taught to be friends to thee? shall not sorrows take hold of thee, as of a woman in travail?
- DARBY
- What wilt thou say when he shall visit thee, since thou thyself hast trained them to be princes in chief over thee? Shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
- BLB
- What will you say when He sets over you—and you had taught them to be allies with you—to be head? Will not pangs seize you like a woman in labor?
- ÅB
- Hva vil du si når han setter fortrolige venner til høvdinger over deg, dem som du selv har opplært til det? Skulle ikke veer gripe deg, som en fødende kvinne?
- OTB
- Hva vil du si når Herren setter over deg de du dyrket som dine allierte? Vil ikke smerte gripe deg som en kvinne i fødsel?
- B1930
- Hvad vil du si når han setter fortrolige venner til høvdinger over dig, dem som du selv har oplært til det? Skulde ikke veer gripe dig, som en fødende kvinne?
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Isaiah 13:8
Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear.
Read in contextJeremiah 4:31
For I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child— the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands to say, “Woe is me, for my soul faints before the murderers!”
Read in contextIsaiah 10:3
What will you do on the day of reckoning when devastation comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?
Read in contextJeremiah 38:22
All the women who remain in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon, and those women will say: ‘They misled you and overcame you— those trusted friends of yours. Your feet sank into the mire, and they deserted you.’
Read in contextJeremiah 5:31
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
Read in contextIsaiah 39:2–4
And Hezekiah welcomed the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his entire armory—all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his palace or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
Read in contextEzekiel 28:9
Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of those who slay you? You will be only a man, not a god, in the hands of those who wound you.
Read in contextJeremiah 22:23
O inhabitant of Lebanon, nestled in the cedars, how you will groan when pangs of anguish come upon you, agony like a woman in labor.”
Read in context