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Sunday, April 12th, 2026
Second Sunday after Easter
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Bible in Basic English

Jeremiah 20:13

Make melody to the Lord, give praise to the Lord: for he has made the soul of the poor man free from the hands of the evil-doers.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Jeremiah;   Poor;   Thompson Chain Reference - Needy, the;   Poor, the;   Poverty-Riches;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Prayer;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Jeremiah;   Prayer;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Jeremiah;   Prayer;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Evil-Doers;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Sing to the Lord!Praise the Lord,for he rescues the life of the needyfrom evil people.
Hebrew Names Version
Sing to the LORD, praise you the LORD; for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evil-doers.
King James Version
Sing unto the Lord , praise ye the Lord : for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.
English Standard Version
Sing to the Lord ; praise the Lord ! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers.
New American Standard Bible
Sing to the LORD, praise the LORD! For He has saved the soul of the needy one From the hand of evildoers.
New Century Version
Sing to the Lord ! Praise the Lord ! He saves the life of the poor from the power of the wicked.
Amplified Bible
Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD! For He has rescued the life of the needy one From the hand of evildoers.
World English Bible
Sing to Yahweh, praise you Yahweh; for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evil-doers.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Sing vnto the Lorde, praise ye the Lorde: for he hath deliuered the soule of the poore fro the hande of the wicked.
Legacy Standard Bible
Sing to Yahweh, praise Yahweh!For He has delivered the soul of the needy oneFrom the hand of evildoers.
Berean Standard Bible
Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD! For He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.
Contemporary English Version
I sing praises to you, Lord . You rescue the oppressed from the wicked.
Complete Jewish Bible
Sing to Adonai ! Praise Adonai ! For he rescues those in need from the clutches of evildoers.
Darby Translation
Sing ye unto Jehovah, praise Jehovah, for he hath delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evildoers.
Easy-to-Read Version
Sing to the Lord ! Praise the Lord ! He saves the lives of the poor! He saves them from the wicked!
George Lamsa Translation
Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD; for he has delivered the life of the poor from the hand of evildoers.
Good News Translation
Sing to the Lord ! Praise the Lord ! He rescues the oppressed from the power of evil people.
Lexham English Bible
Sing to Yahweh, praise Yahweh, for he has delivered the life of the poor from the hand of evildoers.
Literal Translation
Sing to Jehovah. Praise Jehovah. For He has delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Synge vnto the LORDE, and prayse him, for he hath delyuered the soule off the oppressed, from the honde off the violent.
American Standard Version
Sing unto Jehovah, praise ye Jehovah; for he hath delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evil-doers.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD; for He hath delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evil-doers.
King James Version (1611)
Sing vnto the Lord, praise yee the Lord: for hee hath deliuered the soule of the poore from the hand of euill doers.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Sing vnto the Lord and prayse hym, for he hath deliuered the soule of the oppressed from the hande of the violent.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Sing ye to the Lord, sing praise to him: for he has rescued the soul of the poor from the hand of evil-doers.
English Revised Version
Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evil-doers.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Synge ye to the Lord, herie ye the Lord, for he delyueride the soule of a pore man fro the hond of yuel men.
Update Bible Version
Sing to Yahweh, praise you Yahweh; for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evil-doers.
Webster's Bible Translation
Sing to the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evil-doers.
New English Translation
Sing to the Lord ! Praise the Lord ! For he rescues the oppressed from the clutches of evildoers.
New King James Version
Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD! For He has delivered the life of the poor From the hand of evildoers.
New Living Translation
Sing to the Lord ! Praise the Lord ! For though I was poor and needy, he rescued me from my oppressors.
New Life Bible
Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For He has taken the soul of the one in need from the hand of the sinful.
New Revised Standard
Sing to the Lord ; praise the Lord ! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Sing ye to Yahweh! Praise ye Yahweh! For he hath delivered the soul of the needy, out of the hand of evildoers.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Sing ye to the Lord, praise the Lord: because he hath delivered the soul of the poor out of the hand of the wicked.
Revised Standard Version
Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers.
Young's Literal Translation
Sing ye to Jehovah, praise Jehovah, For He hath delivered the soul of the needy From the hand of evil doers.
THE MESSAGE
Sing to God ! All praise to God ! He saves the weak from the grip of the wicked.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Sing to the LORD, praise the LORD! For He has delivered the soul of the needy one From the hand of evildoers.

Contextual Overview

7 O Lord, you have been false to me, and I was tricked; you are stronger than I, and have overcome me: I have become a thing to be laughed at all the day, everyone makes sport of me. 8 For every word I say is a cry for help; I say with a loud voice, Violent behaviour and wasting: because the word of the Lord is made a shame to me and a cause of laughing all the day. 9 And if I say, I will not keep him in mind, I will not say another word in his name; then it is in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am tired of keeping myself in, I am not able to do it. 10 For numbers of them say evil secretly in my hearing (there is fear on every side): they say, Come, let us give witness against him; all my nearest friends, who are watching for my fall, say, It may be that he will be taken by deceit, and we will get the better of him and give him punishment. 11 But the Lord is with me as a great one, greatly to be feared: so my attackers will have a fall, and they will not overcome me: they will be greatly shamed, because they have not done wisely, even with an unending shame, kept in memory for ever. 12 But, O Lord of armies, testing the upright and seeing the thoughts and the heart, let me see your punishment come on them; for I have put my cause before you. 13 Make melody to the Lord, give praise to the Lord: for he has made the soul of the poor man free from the hands of the evil-doers.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

for: Psalms 34:6, Psalms 35:9-11, Psalms 69:33, Psalms 72:4, Psalms 109:30, Psalms 109:31, Isaiah 25:4, James 2:5, James 2:6

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 11:15 - Set ye Psalms 41:11 - because Acts 4:24 - they

Cross-References

Genesis 12:1
Now the Lord said to Abram, Go out from your country and from your family and from your father's house, into the land to which I will be your guide:
Genesis 12:9
And he went on, journeying still to the South.
Genesis 20:3
But God came to Abimelech in a dream in the night, and said to him, Truly you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is a man's wife.
Genesis 20:5
Did he not say to me himself, She is my sister? and she herself said, He is my brother: with an upright heart and clean hands have I done this.
Genesis 20:11
And Abraham said, Because it seemed to me that there was no fear of God in this place, and that they might put me to death because of my wife.
1 Samuel 23:21
And Saul said, The Lord's blessing will be yours, for you have had pity on me.
Psalms 64:5
They make themselves strong in an evil purpose; they make holes for secret nets; they say, Who will see it,
Acts 5:9
But Peter said to her, Why have you made an agreement together to be false to the Spirit of the Lord? See, the feet of the young men who have put the body of your husband in the earth, are at the door, and they will take you out.
Hebrews 11:8
By faith Abraham did as God said when he was ordered to go out into a place which was to be given to him as a heritage, and went out without knowledge of where he was going.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord,.... The prophet, from prayer, proceeds to praise; and from expressions of faith and confidence in the Lord, having committed his cause to him, being assured of success, rises up to a holy triumph and joy; and calls upon his soul, and upon others, to join with him in praising, and singing praises to the Lord: this is said, as Kimchi observes, with respect to the saints in Jerusalem; for there were some good people doubtless there at this time, a remnant according to the election of grace; who had a regard for the prophet, and wished well to him, and were ready to join with him in acts of devotion, prayer, or praise;

for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evil doers; or, "the life of the poor"; meaning himself, a poor destitute person, few or none to stand by him but the Lord, who had delivered him out of the hand of Pashur and his accomplices; and out of the hand of those that watched for his halting; and out of the hands of all his persecutors: or this may respect not past deliverances, but what was to come; which the prophet had such a believing view of, that he calls upon himself and others to praise God for beforehand.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In the rest of the chapter we have an outbreak of deep emotion, of which the first part ends in a cry of hope Jeremiah 20:13, followed nevertheless by curses upon the day of his birth. Was this the result of feelings wounded by the indignities of a public scourging and a night spent in the stocks? Or was it not the mental agony of knowing that his ministry had (as it seemed) failed? He stands indeed before the multitudes with unbending strength, warning prince and people with unwavering constancy of the national ruin that would follow necessarily upon their sins. Before God he stood crushed by the thought that he had labored in vain, and spent his strength for nothing.

It is important to notice that with this outpouring of sorrow Jeremiah’s ministry virtually closed. Though he appeared again at Jerusalem toward the end of Jehoiakim’s reign, yet it was no longer to say that by repentance the national ruin might be averted. During the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the die was cast, and all the prophet henceforward could do, was to alleviate a punishment that was inevitable.

Jeremiah 20:7

Thou hast deceived me ... - What Jeremiah refers to is the joy with which he had accepted the prophetic office Jeremiah 15:16, occasioned perhaps by taking the promises in Jeremiah 1:18 too literally as a pledge that he would succeed.

Thou art stronger than I - Rather, “Thou hast taken hold of me.” God had taken Jeremiah in so firm a grasp that he could not escape from the necessity of prophesying. He would have resisted, but the hand of God prevailed.

I am in derision daily - literally, “I am become a laughing-stock all the day, i. e., peripetually.

Jeremiah 20:8

Translate,” For as often as I speak, I must complain; I call out, Violence and spoil.”

From the time Jeremiah began to prophesy, he had had reason for nothing but lamentation. Daily with louder voice and more desperate energy he must call out “violence and spoil;” as a perpetual protest against the manner in which the laws of justice were violated by powerful men among the people.

Jeremiah 20:9

Seeing that his mission was useless, Jeremiah determined to withdraw from it.

I could not stay - Rather, “I prevailed not,” did not succeed. See Jeremiah 20:7.

Jeremiah 20:10

The defaming - Rather, “the talking.” The word refers to people whispering in twos and threes apart; in this case plotting against Jeremiah. Compare Mark 14:58.

Report ... - Rather, “Do you report, and we will report him: i. e., they encourage one another to give information against Jeremiah.

My familiars - literally, “the men of my peace” Psalms 41:9. In the East the usual salutation is “Peace be to thee:” and the answer, “And to thee peace.” Thus, the phrase rather means acquaintances, than familiar friends.

Enticed - literally, “persuaded, misled,” the same word as “deceived Jeremiah 20:7.” Compare Mark 12:13-17.

Jeremiah 20:11

A mighty terrible one - Rather, “a terrible warrior.” The mighty One Isaiah 9:6 who is on his side is a terror to them. This change of feeling was the effect of faith, enabling him to be content with calmly doing his duty, and leaving the result to God.

For ... - Rather, “because they have not acted wisely (Jeremiah 10:21 note), with an everlasting disgrace that shall never be forgotten.”

Jeremiah 20:12

This verse is repeated almost verbatim from Jeremiah 11:20.

Jeremiah 20:13

Sing - Jeremiah’s outward circumstances remained the same, but he found peace in leaving his cause in faith to God.

Jeremiah 20:14

This sudden outbreak of impatience after the happy faith of Jeremiah 20:13 has led to much discussion. Possibly there was more of sorrow in the words than of impatience; sorrow that the earnest labor of a life had been in vain. Yet the form of the expression is fierce and indignant; and the impatience of Jeremiah is that part of his character which is most open to blame. He does not reach that elevation which is set before us by Him who is the perfect pattern of all righteousness. Our Lord was a prophet whose mission to the men of His generation equally failed, and His sorrow was even more deep; but it never broke forth in imprecations. See Luke 19:41-42.

Jeremiah 20:16

The cry - is the sound of the lamentation Jeremiah 20:8; “the shouting” is the alarm of war.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 20:13. Sing unto the Lord — He was so completely delivered from all fear, that although he remained in the same circumstances, yet he exults in the Divine protection, and does not fear the face of any adversary.


 
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