Jeremiah 18:21
New International Version
So give their children over to famine; hand them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives be made childless and widows; let their men be put to death, their young men slain by the sword in battle.

New Living Translation
So let their children starve! Let them die by the sword! Let their wives become childless widows. Let their old men die in a plague, and let their young men be killed in battle!

English Standard Version
Therefore deliver up their children to famine; give them over to the power of the sword; let their wives become childless and widowed. May their men meet death by pestilence, their youths be struck down by the sword in battle.

Berean Standard Bible
Therefore, hand their children over to famine; pour out the power of the sword upon them. Let their wives become childless and widowed; let their husbands be slain by disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

King James Bible
Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.

New King James Version
Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, And pour out their blood By the force of the sword; Let their wives become widows And bereaved of their children. Let their men be put to death, Their young men be slain By the sword in battle.

New American Standard Bible
Therefore, give their children over to famine And turn them over to the power of the sword; And let their wives become childless and widowed. Let their men also be slaughtered to death, Their young men struck and killed by the sword in battle.

NASB 1995
Therefore, give their children over to famine And deliver them up to the power of the sword; And let their wives become childless and widowed. Let their men also be smitten to death, Their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

NASB 1977
Therefore, give their children over to famine, And deliver them up to the power of the sword; And let their wives become childless and widowed. Let their men also be smitten to death, Their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore, give their children over to famine And deliver them up to the power of the sword; And let their wives become childless and widowed. Let their men also be smitten to death, Their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

Amplified Bible
Therefore, give their children over to the famine; Give them over to the power of the sword. And let their wives become childless and widowed; Let their men meet death [by virulent disease], Their young men be struck down by the sword in battle.

Christian Standard Bible
Therefore, hand their children over to famine, and give them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives become childless and widowed, their husbands slain by deadly disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Therefore, hand their children over to famine, and pour the sword’s power on them. Let their wives become childless and widowed, their husbands slain by deadly disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

American Standard Version
Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless, and widows; and let their men be slain of death, and their young men smitten of the sword in battle.

Contemporary English Version
But now I am asking you to let their children starve or be killed in war. Let women lose their husbands and sons to disease and violence.

English Revised Version
Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless, and widows; and let their men be slain of death, and their young men smitten of the sword in battle.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Now, hand their children over to famine. Pour out their [blood] by using your sword. Then their wives will become childless widows. Their husbands will be put to death. Their young men will be struck down in battle.

Good News Translation
But now, LORD, let their children starve to death; let them be killed in war. Let the women lose their husbands and children; let the men die of disease and the young men be killed in battle.

International Standard Version
Therefore, make their children undergo famine, and deliver them over to death in time of war. May their women be childless widows! May their men be slaughtered! May their young men be slain by the sword in battle!

Majority Standard Bible
Therefore, hand their children over to famine; pour out the power of the sword upon them. Let their wives become childless and widowed; let their husbands be slain by disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

NET Bible
So let their children die of starvation. Let them be cut down by the sword. Let their wives lose their husbands and children. Let the older men die of disease and the younger men die by the sword in battle.

New Heart English Bible
Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless, and widows; and let their men be slain of death, and their young men struck of the sword in battle.

Webster's Bible Translation
Therefore deliver their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.

World English Bible
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.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Therefore, give up their sons to famine, "" And cause them to run on the sides of the sword, "" And their wives are bereaved and widows, "" And their men are slain by death, "" Their young men [are] struck by sword in battle,

Young's Literal Translation
Therefore, give up their sons to famine, And cause them to run on the sides of the sword, And their wives are bereaved and widows, And their men are slain by death, Their young men smitten by sword in battle,

Smith's Literal Translation
For this, give their sons to the famine, and pour them out upon the hands of the sword; and their wives shall be bereaved of offspring, and be widows; and their men shall be slain by death; their young men struck of the sword in battle.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Therefore deliver up their children to famine, and bring them into the hands of the sword: let their wives be bereaved of children and widows: and let their husbands be slain by death: let their young men be stabbed with the sword in battle.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Because of this, give their sons over to famine, and bring them to the hand of the sword. Let their wives be widows without children. And let their husbands be slain by death. Let their youths be stabbed with the sword in battle.

New American Bible
So now, give their children to famine, deliver them to the power of the sword. Let their wives be childless and widows; let their husbands die of pestilence, their youths be struck down by the sword in battle.

New Revised Standard Version
Therefore give their children over to famine; hurl them out to the power of the sword, let their wives become childless and widowed. May their men meet death by pestilence, their youths be slain by the sword in battle.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Therefore give their children to famine and deliver them to the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and become widows; and let their men be put to death and their young men be slain by the sword in battle.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Because of this, give their children to starvation, and deliver them to the hand of the sword. Their wives shall be bereaved and become widows, and their mighty men shall be slain by death, and their young men slain by the sword in war!
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, And hurl them to the power of the sword; And let their wives be bereaved of their children, and widows; And let their men be slain of death, And their young men smitten of the sword in battle.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Therefore do thou deliver their sons to famine, and gather them to the power of the sword: let their women be childless and widows; and let their men be cut off by death, and their young men fall by the sword in war.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Plot Against Jeremiah
20Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your wrath from them. 21Therefore, hand their children over to famine; pour out the power of the sword upon them. Let their wives become childless and widowed; let their husbands be slain by disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle. 22Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring raiders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet.…

Cross References
Psalm 109:9-15
May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. / May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes. / May the creditor seize all he owns, and strangers plunder the fruits of his labor. ...

Deuteronomy 28:32
Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, while your eyes grow weary looking for them day after day, with no power in your hand.

Lamentations 2:20-22
Look, O LORD, and consider: Whom have You ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord? / Both young and old lie together in the dust of the streets. My young men and maidens have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of Your anger; You have slaughtered them without compassion. / You summoned my terrors on every side, as for the day of an appointed feast. In the day of the LORD’s anger no one escaped or survived; my enemy has destroyed those I nurtured and reared.

Isaiah 9:17
Therefore the Lord takes no pleasure in their young men; He has no compassion on their fatherless and widows. For every one of them is godless and wicked, and every mouth speaks folly. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.

Hosea 9:12-14
Even if they raise their children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe be to them when I turn away from them! / I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a meadow. But Ephraim will bring out his children for slaughter. / Give them, O LORD—what will You give? Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that dry up!

Ezekiel 9:5-6
And as I listened, He said to the others, “Follow him through the city and start killing; do not show pity or spare anyone! / Slaughter the old men, the young men and maidens, the women and children; but do not go near anyone who has the mark. Now begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple.

1 Samuel 15:33
But Samuel declared: “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.

2 Kings 2:23-24
From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” / Then he turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Suddenly two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.

Psalm 137:8-9
O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us. / Blessed is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

2 Chronicles 36:17
So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar,

Matthew 23:34-36
Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town. / And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. / Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Luke 11:49-51
Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and others they will persecute.’ / As a result, this generation will be charged with the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world, / from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, all of it will be charged to this generation.

Revelation 6:9-11
And when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they had upheld. / And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge those who dwell upon the earth and avenge our blood?” / Then each of them was given a white robe and told to rest a little while longer until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers, were killed, just as they had been killed.

Romans 11:9-10
And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution to them. / May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.”

Acts 7:52
Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers—


Treasury of Scripture

Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.

deliver.

Jeremiah 11:20-23
But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause…

Jeremiah 12:3
But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

Jeremiah 20:1-6,11,12
Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things…

pour out their blood.

Jeremiah 15:2,3,8
And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity…

Jeremiah 16:3,4
For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land; …

Exodus 22:24
And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

let their young.

Jeremiah 9:21
For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.

Jeremiah 11:22
Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will punish them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine:

2 Chronicles 36:17
Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.

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Jeremiah 18
1. Under the type of a potter is shown God's absolute power in disposing of nations.
11. Judgments threatened to Judah for her strange revolt.
18. Jeremiah prays against his conspirators.














So hand their children over to famine
In this phrase, the prophet Jeremiah is calling upon God to bring judgment upon the people who have turned against him. The Hebrew word for "famine" is "רָעָב" (ra'av), which signifies a severe scarcity of food leading to hunger and starvation. Historically, famine was a common consequence of war and siege in ancient times, often seen as a divine punishment for disobedience. This plea reflects the severity of the people's rebellion and the depth of Jeremiah's anguish over their sin.

pour out their blood by the force of the sword
The imagery of blood being poured out "by the force of the sword" is a vivid depiction of violent death in battle. The Hebrew word for "sword" is "חֶרֶב" (cherev), a common instrument of warfare in the ancient Near East. This phrase underscores the inevitability of divine justice and the consequences of turning away from God's covenant. It serves as a stark reminder of the seriousness of sin and the reality of divine retribution.

Let their wives become childless and widowed
Here, Jeremiah calls for the women of his adversaries to suffer the loss of their children and husbands. The Hebrew context emphasizes the social and emotional devastation of being "childless" and "widowed," as these conditions left women vulnerable and without support in ancient society. This plea highlights the comprehensive nature of the judgment Jeremiah seeks, affecting every aspect of life and family.

their men struck down by deadly disease
The phrase "struck down by deadly disease" suggests a plague or pestilence, often seen as a direct act of God in the Old Testament. The Hebrew term for "disease" is "דֶּבֶר" (dever), which can refer to a widespread epidemic. This reflects the belief that God controls all aspects of life and death, using even disease as a tool for judgment against those who oppose His will.

their young men slain by the sword in battle
The repetition of the "sword" imagery here emphasizes the totality of the destruction Jeremiah envisions. The "young men" represent the strength and future of a community, and their loss in battle signifies a devastating blow to the people's hopes and continuity. This phrase serves as a sobering reminder of the cost of rebellion against God and the ultimate futility of resisting His plans.

(21) Therefore deliver up their children . . .--The bitter words that follow startle and pain us, like the imprecations of Psalms 35, 69, 109. To what extent they were the utterances of a righteous indignation, a true zeal for God, which had not yet learnt the higher lesson of patience and forgiveness, or embodied an element of personal vindictiveness, we are not called on to inquire, and could not, in any case, decide. It is not ours to judge another man's servant. In all like cases we have to remember that the very truthfulness with which the prayer is recorded is at least a proof that the prophet felt, like Jonah, that he did well to be angry (Jonah 4:9), that a righteous anger is at least one step towards a righteous love, and that we, as disciples of Christ, have passed, or ought to have passed, beyond that earlier stage.

Pour out their blood by the force of the sword.--Literally, with a bolder metaphor, pour them out into the hands of the sword.

Verse 21. - Pour out their blood by the force, etc.; rather, spill them into the hands of, etc. (see Psalm 63:10); a phrase akin to that in Isaiah 53:12. The sword is personified. Let their men he put to death; another personification, for the Hebrew has "slain of Death" - pestilence is referred to, as Jeremiah 15:2.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Therefore,
לָכֵן֩ (lā·ḵên)
Adverb
Strong's 3651: So -- thus

hand their children
בְּנֵיהֶ֜ם (bə·nê·hem)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 1121: A son

over
תֵּ֨ן (tên)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

to famine,
לָרָעָ֗ב (lā·rā·‘āḇ)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7458: Famine, hunger

pour out
וְהַגִּרֵם֮ (wə·hag·gi·rêm)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Imperative - masculine singular | third person masculine plural
Strong's 5064: To flow, to stretch out, to pour out, down, to deliver over

the power
יְדֵי־ (yə·ḏê-)
Noun - fdc
Strong's 3027: A hand

of the sword
חֶרֶב֒ (ḥe·reḇ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2719: Drought, a cutting instrument, as a, knife, sword

upon them.
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

Let their wives
נְשֵׁיהֶ֤ם (nə·šê·hem)
Noun - feminine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

become
וְתִֽהְיֶ֨נָה (wə·ṯih·ye·nāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect - third person feminine plural
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

childless
שַׁכֻּלוֹת֙ (šak·ku·lō·wṯ)
Adjective - feminine plural
Strong's 7909: Childless

and widowed,
וְאַלְמָנ֔וֹת (wə·’al·mā·nō·wṯ)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 490: A widow, a desolate place

their husbands
וְאַ֨נְשֵׁיהֶ֔ם (wə·’an·šê·hem)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

be slain
הֲרֻ֣גֵי (hă·ru·ḡê)
Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - masculine plural construct
Strong's 2026: To smite with deadly intent

by disease,
מָ֑וֶת (mā·weṯ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4194: Death, the dead, their place, state, pestilence, ruin

and their young men
בַּח֣וּרֵיהֶ֔ם (ba·ḥū·rê·hem)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 970: Selected, a youth

struck down
מֻכֵּי־ (muk·kê-)
Verb - Hofal - Participle - masculine plural construct
Strong's 5221: To strike

by the sword
חֶ֖רֶב (ḥe·reḇ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2719: Drought, a cutting instrument, as a, knife, sword

in battle.
בַּמִּלְחָמָֽה׃ (bam·mil·ḥā·māh)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4421: A battle, war


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 18:21 Therefore deliver up their children to (Jer.)
Jeremiah 18:20
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