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Jeremiah 5:29

“Shouldn’t I punish for these things?” says Yahweh. “Shouldn’t my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    “Shouldn’t I punish for these things?” says Yahweh. “Shouldn’t my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

  • KJV King James Version

    Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    Shall I not punish for these things? saith the LORD; Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

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Cross-references (4)

Passages linked to Jeremiah 5:29 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • Jeremiah 5:9 Shouldn’t I punish them for these things?” says Yahweh. “Shouldn’t my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
  • Malachi 3:5 I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear me,” says Yahweh of Armies.
  • James 5:4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of those who reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Armies.
  • Jeremiah 9:9 Shouldn’t I punish them for these things?” says Yahweh. “Shouldn’t my soul be avenged on a nation such as this?

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

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Explain this verse (9 sources)

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

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain He repeats what we have before noticed, so there…

He repeats what we have before noticed, so there is no need of an explanation. But the repetition is not without its use; for the Jews had become so torpid, that all reproofs and threatenings were regarded with indifference. Hence God rouses them with great vehemence, Shall I not, he says, visit for these things? He takes it for granted, that we ought to be fully persuaded, that he is the judge of the world. It is the proper office of a judge to punish the wicked, and also to relieve the helpless and the oppressed, and to check the audacity of those who allow themselves every liberty. God then reasons here from his own nature and office, as though he had said, “Since I am God, can I suffer so much impiety and wantonness to prevail unpunished among my people?” Then he adds —

On such a nation as this, shall not avenged be my soul?

Read full note →

God transfers here to himself, as we have said elsewhere, what does not strictly belong to him; but it is the same as though he had said, “There is no one among earthly judges so void of feeling as to bear such indignities; for when the judge sees that he is treated with contempt by the wicked, is he not provoked?” Avenged then shall be my soul; as though he said, that he is not so soft, or so slothful, or so careless, as not to take vengeance on such wanton contempt. It 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.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 5:29 Shall I not visit for these [things]?…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain It is expressed as a thing taken for granted,…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Shall I not visit for these things?.... See Gill…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Nation? It is contrary to God’s justice not to…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain (Jer 5:9; Mal 3:5).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 29. The refrain taken up again from Jer_5:9.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain A repetition of ver. 9 in the manner of…
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 5:29-31 The people’s sins (5:26-28) fully justified the Lord’s…

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