Back to Jeremiah 17

Jeremiah 17:18

Let them be disappointed who persecute me, but let not me be disappointed. Let them be dismayed, but don’t let me be dismayed. Bring on them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    Let them be disappointed who persecute me, but let not me be disappointed. Let them be dismayed, but don’t let me be dismayed. Bring on them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.

  • KJV King James Version

    Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.

  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    Let them be ashamed that persecute me, but let not me be ashamed; Let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed; Bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.

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Cross-references (16)

Passages linked to Jeremiah 17:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • Psalms 35:4 Let those who seek after my soul be disappointed and brought to dishonor. Let those who plot my ruin be turned back and confounded.
  • Psalms 40:14 Let them be disappointed and confounded together who seek after my soul to destroy it. Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt.
  • Psalms 25:2-3 My God, I have trusted in you. Don’t let me be shamed. Don’t let my enemies triumph over me. Yes, no one who waits for you will be shamed. They will be shamed who deal treacherously without cause.
  • Psalms 83:17-18 Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever. Yes, let them be confounded and perish; that they may know that you alone, whose name is Yahweh, are the Most High over all the earth.
  • Jeremiah 11:20 But, Yahweh of Armies, who judges righteously, who tests the heart and the mind, I will see your vengeance on them; for to you I have revealed my cause.
  • Jeremiah 20:11 But Yahweh is with me as an awesome mighty one. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they won’t prevail. They will be utterly disappointed, because they have not dealt wisely, even with an everlasting dishonor which will never be forgotten.
  • Psalms 35:8 Let destruction come on him unawares. Let his net that he has hidden catch himself. Let him fall into that destruction.
  • Psalms 70:2 Let them be disappointed and confounded who seek my soul. Let those who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.
  • Psalms 71:1 In you, Yahweh, I take refuge. Never let me be disappointed.
  • Jeremiah 16:18 First I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable things, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.”
  • Jeremiah 17:16 As for me, I have not hurried from being a shepherd after you. I haven’t desired the woeful day. You know. That which came out of my lips was before your face.
  • Jeremiah 18:19-23 Give heed to me, Yahweh, and listen to the voice of those who contend with me. Should evil be recompensed for good? For they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them. Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives become childless and widows. Let their men be killed and their young men struck by the sword in battle. Let a cry be heard from their houses when you bring a troop suddenly on them; for they have dug a pit to take me and hidden snares for my feet. Yet, Yahweh, you know all their counsel against me to kill me. Don’t forgive their iniquity. Don’t blot out their sin from your sight, Let them be overthrown before you. Deal with them in the time of your anger.
  • Revelation 18:6 Return to her just as she returned, and repay her double as she did, and according to her works. In the cup which she mixed, mix to her double.
  • Job 16:14 He breaks me with breach on breach. He runs at me like a giant.
  • Psalms 35:26-27 Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity. Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me. Let those who favor my righteous cause shout for joy and be glad. Yes, let them say continually, “May Yahweh be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant!”
  • Jeremiah 14:17 “You shall say this word to them: “ ‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound.

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

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Explain this verse (13 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet, as we have seen, had a hard…

The Prophet, as we have seen, had a hard contest, not only with one man or with a few, but with the whole people, and then it is probable that there were many sects, for when he cried against the avaricious, there was a commotion instantly made by all those who lived on plunder, when he spoke against the indulgence of lust, there was a second conspiracy against him; when he condemned drunkenness and intemperance, there was a new combination formed to oppose him. We hence see how all the ungodly in all parts and for various reasons assailed the Prophet, he was therefore constrained to pray, as he now does, Ashamed let them be who persecute me, even because they now testified that they were evidently the enemies of God, for he had no private concern with them, but faithfully obeyed the command of God. As then he knew them to be God’s avowed enemies, he hesitated not to ask God himself to oppose them.

We must yet notice what we have said in other places, that the Prophet was not only influenced by a holy and pious zeal, but was also governed by the wisdom of the Spirit. This I again repeat, for there are many foolish imitators, who always appeal to the vehemence which the Prophets shewed, while they themselves are carried away by a violent rather than by a vehement impulse. But we must first see whether the Holy Spirit guides us, lest we should utter imprecations against the very elect; and then we must beware of being influenced by the feelings of our flesh, and intemperate zeal is ever to be feared, for it is a rare gift so to burn with zeal as to join with it the moderation that is required. As then there is always something turbulent in our zeal, we must remember that the Prophets never uttered a word but as the Spirit guided their tongues, and then that they had no regard to themselves, and, thirdly, that they were so calm and composed in their ardor that they were not, guilty of excess.

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The Prophet no doubt fully knew that all those were reprobate on whom he imprecated God’s vengeance, but as it does not belong to us to distinguish between the elect and the reprobate, let us learn to suspend and check our zeal, so that it may not be too fervid, for we may often mistake, if we follow generally what the Prophet says here, Bring on them the day of evil, and with a double breach break them. Were we thus to speak indiscriminately of all, our zeal would often hit the very children of God. We must therefore bear in mind, that before the Prophet uttered this imprecation he was taught by the Spirit of God that he had to do with reprobate and irreclaimable men. Now a new discourse follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Read Jer. 11:20.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 17:18 Let them be confounded that persecute me,…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain That is, with abundant destruction. Concerning these prayers of…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Let them be confounded that persecute me,.... With words…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 18. Let them be confounded] They shall be…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Let them be confounded, &c. Such expressions as these…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain destroy . . . destruction--"break them with a double…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 18. Let not me be confounded — This prayer…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 18. destroy them with double destruction] lit. as mg.…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (18) Let them be confounded . . .—The prayer…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain (On this terrible execration, with reference to Jeremiah"s character,…
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 17:18 Jeremiah wanted his persecutors to experience the shame…

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