Jeremiah 22:23
21 I warned you when you were secure. You said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your way from youth, that you have not obeyed My voice.
22 The wind will drive away all your shepherds, and your lovers will go into captivity. Then you will be ashamed and humiliated because of all your wickedness.
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.”
24 “As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “even if you, Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on My right hand, I would pull you off.
25 In fact, I will hand you over to those you dread, who want to take your life—to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Chaldeans.
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
- 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.”
- KJV
- O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!
- WEB
- Inhabitant of Lebanon, who makes your nest in the cedars, how greatly to be pitied you will be when pangs come on you, the pain as of a woman in travail!
- ASV
- O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how greatly to be pitied shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!
- DARBY
- Thou inhabitress of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how pitiful shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, pain as of a woman in travail!
- BLB
- O dweller of Lebanon, nesting in the cedars—how you will groan when pains come upon you, writhing like a woman in labor!”
- ÅB
- Du som bor på Libanon, som har ditt rede i sedrene, hvor du vil stønne når smerter kommer over deg, veer som den fødende kvinnes!
- OTB
- Du som bor i Libanon, som er plassert i sederbygninger, hvordan vil du stønne når smertene kommer over deg, smerte som en kvinne i fødsel!
- B1930
- Du som bor på Libanon, som har ditt rede i sedrene, hvor du vil stønne når smerter kommer over dig, veer som den fødende kvinnes!
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Jeremiah 6:24
We have heard the report; our hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped us, pain like that of a woman in labor.
Read in contextJeremiah 22:6
For this is what the LORD says concerning the house of the king of Judah: “You are like Gilead to Me, like the summit of Lebanon; but I will surely turn you into a desert, like cities that are uninhabited.
Read in contextJeremiah 4:30–31
And you, O devastated one, what will you do, though you dress yourself in scarlet, though you adorn yourself with gold jewelry, though you enlarge your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain; your lovers despise you; they want to take your life.
Read in contextZechariah 11:1–2
Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may consume your cedars!
Read in contextJeremiah 50:4–5
“In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, the children of Israel and the children of Judah will come together, weeping as they come, and will seek the LORD their God.
Read in contextHabakkuk 2:9
Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, to place his nest on high and escape the hand of disaster!
Read in contextAmos 9:2
Though they dig down to Sheol, from there My hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, from there I will pull them down.
Read in contextJeremiah 3:21
A voice is heard on the barren heights, the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy, because they have perverted their ways and forgotten the LORD their God.
Read in context