Jeremiah 18:16
14 Does the snow of Lebanon ever leave its rocky slopes? Or do its cool waters flowing from a distance ever run dry?
15 Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway.
They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.
17 I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind. I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their calamity.”
18 Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”
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
- They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.
- KJV
- To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
- WEB
- to make their land an astonishment, and a perpetual hissing. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished, and shake his head.
- ASV
- to make their land an astonishment, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and shake his head.
- DARBY
- to make their land an astonishment, a perpetual hissing: every one that passeth by shall be astonished, and shake his head.
- BLB
- to make their land desolate, an everlasting hissing; all passing by it will be astonished and will nod [at it] with his head.
- ÅB
- og slik gjorde de sitt land til en forferdelse, til en evig spott; hver den som går forbi, skal forferdes og riste på hodet.
- OTB
- Deres land vil bli en øde, et objekt for evig hån; alle som går forbi det vil bli forferdet og vil riste på hodet.
- B1930
- og således gjorde de sitt land til en forferdelse, til en evig spott; hver den som går forbi, skal forferdes og ryste på hodet.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Psalms 22:7
All who see me mock me; they sneer and shake their heads:
Read in contextJeremiah 25:9
behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
Read in contextJeremiah 19:8
I will make this city a desolation and an object of scorn. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.
Read in contextMicah 6:16
You have kept the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their counsel. Therefore I will make you a desolation, and your inhabitants an object of contempt; you will bear the scorn of the nations.”
Read in contextJeremiah 50:13
Because of the wrath of the LORD, she will not be inhabited; she will become completely desolate. All who pass through Babylon will be horrified and will hiss at all her wounds.
Read in contextJeremiah 49:13
For by Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that Bozrah will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will be in ruins forever.”
Read in contextEzekiel 33:28–29
I will make the land a desolate waste, and the pride of her strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will become desolate, so that no one will pass through.
Read in context1 Kings 9:8
And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’
Read in context