Jeremiah 17:20

Easy-to-Read Version

Say to the people, "Listen to this message from the Lord . Listen, kings of Judah. Listen, all you people of Judah. All you who come through these gates into Jerusalem, listen to me!

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Announce to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah, all Judah, and all the residents of Jerusalem who enter through these gates.

Hebrew Names Version
and tell them, Hear you the word of the LORD, you kings of Yehudah, and all Yehudah, and all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, that enter in by these gates:

King James Version
And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the Lord , ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:

English Standard Version
and say: ‘Hear the word of the Lord , you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates.

New American Standard Bible
and say to them, 'Listen to the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates.

New Century Version
Say to them there: ‘Hear the word of the Lord , kings of Judah, all you people of Judah, and all who live in Jerusalem, who come through these gates into the city.

Amplified Bible
and say to them, 'Listen to the word of the LORD, kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the people of Jerusalem who enter through these gates.

World English Bible
and tell them, Hear you the word of Yahweh, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:

Geneva Bible (1587)
And say vnto them, Heare the word of the Lord, ye Kings of Iudah, and al Iudah, and all the inhabitants of Ierusale, yt enter in by these gates.

Legacy Standard Bible
and say to them, ‘Listen to the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah and all Judah and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates:

Berean Standard Bible
Say to them, 'Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, all people of Judah and Jerusalem who enter through these gates.

Complete Jewish Bible
and say to them: ‘Kings of Y'hudah, all Y'hudah and all living in Yerushalayim who enter through these gates, hear the word of Adonai !

Darby Translation
and say unto them, Hear the word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates;

George Lamsa Translation
And say to them, Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah and all the house of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem who enter by these gates.

Good News Translation
Tell the kings and all the people of Judah and everyone who lives in Jerusalem and enters these gates, to listen to what I say.

Lexham English Bible
And you must say to them, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem who enter through these gates.

Literal Translation
And say to them, Hear the Word of Jehovah, kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the residents of Jerusalem who enter in by these gates.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and saye vnto them: Heare the worde of the LORDE, ye kinges of Iuda, and all thou people of Iuda, and all ye citesyns of Ierusalem, that go thorow this gate:

American Standard Version
and say unto them, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:

Bible in Basic English
And say to them, Give ear to the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all the people of Jerusalem who come in by these doors:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
and say unto them: Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates;

King James Version (1611)
And say vnto them, Heare ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Iudah, and all Iudah, and all the inhabitants of Ierusalem, that enter in by these gates.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And say vnto them, Heare the worde of the Lorde ye kynges of Iuda, and all thou people of Iuda, and all the citezins of Hierusalem, that go through this gate.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and thou shalt say to them, Hear the word of the Lord, ye kings of Juda, and all Judea, and all Jerusalem, all who go in at these gates:

English Revised Version
and say unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And thou schalt seie to hem, Here the word of the Lord, ye kingis of Juda, and al Judee, and alle the dwelleris of Jerusalem, that entren bi these yatis.

Update Bible Version
and say to them, Hear the word of Yahweh, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:

Webster's Bible Translation
And say to them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter by these gates:

New English Translation
As you stand in those places announce, ‘Listen, all you people who pass through these gates. Listen, all you kings of Judah, all you people of Judah and all you citizens of Jerusalem. Listen to what the Lord says.

New King James Version
and say to them, "Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates.

New Living Translation
Say to all the people, ‘Listen to this message from the Lord , you kings of Judah and all you people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem.

New Life Bible
And say to them, ‘Listen to the Word of the Lord, kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all people of Jerusalem who come in through these gates.

New Revised Standard
and say to them: Hear the word of the Lord , you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then shalt thou say unto them - Hear ye the word of Yahweh Ye kings of Judah and all Judah, And all ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, - who enter in through these gates:

Douay-Rheims Bible
And thou shalt say to them: Hear the word of the Lord, ye kings of Juda, and al Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates.

Revised Standard Version
and say: 'Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates.

Young's Literal Translation
and thou hast said unto them: Hear a word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem, who are coming in by these gates,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
and say to them, 'Listen to the word of the LORD, kings of Judah, and all Judah and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates:

Contextual Overview

¹⁹ This is what the Lord said to me: "Jeremiah, go and stand at the People's Gate, where the kings of Judah go in and out. Tell the people my message, and then go to all the other gates of Jerusalem and do the same." ²⁰ Say to the people, "Listen to this message from the Lord . Listen, kings of Judah. Listen, all you people of Judah. All you who come through these gates into Jerusalem, listen to me! ²¹ This is what the Lord says: ‘Be careful that you don't carry a load on the Sabbath day. And don't bring a load through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. ²² Don't bring a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day. Don't do any work on that day. You must make the Sabbath day a holy day. I gave this same command to your ancestors, ²³ but they did not obey me. They did not pay attention to me. Your ancestors were very stubborn. I punished them, but it did not do any good. They did not listen to me. ²⁴ But you must be careful to obey me, says the Lord . You must not bring a load through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath. You must make the Sabbath day a holy day. You will do this by not doing any work on that day. ²⁵ "‘If you obey this command, the kings and leaders will be from David's family. It will be the kings who sit on David's throne and the leaders from Judah and Jerusalem who come through the gates of Jerusalem riding on chariots and on horses. And Jerusalem will have people living in it forever. ²⁶ People will come to Jerusalem from the towns and villages of Judah, from the land where the tribe of Benjamin lives, from the western foothills, from the hill country, and from the Negev. All these people will bring burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, incense, and thank offerings to the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. ²⁷ "‘But if you don't listen to me and obey me, bad things will happen. If you carry loads into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, you are not keeping it as a holy day. So I will start a fire that cannot be put out. That fire will start at the gates of Jerusalem, and it will burn until it burns even the palaces.'"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Jeremiah 13:18, Jeremiah 19:3, Jeremiah 22:2, Psalms 49:1, Psalms 49:2, Ezekiel 2:7, Ezekiel 3:17, Hosea 5:1, Amos 4:1, Micah 3:1, Revelation 2:29

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 21:8 - only if they Jeremiah 7:2 - that enter Jeremiah 7:7 - will I Jeremiah 21:11 - General Jeremiah 35:15 - Return Mark 2:24 - that

Cross-References

Genesis 17:10
This is my agreement that all of you must obey. This is the agreement between me and you and all your descendants. Every male must be circumcised.

Genesis 17:12
When the baby boy is eight days old, you will circumcise him. Every boy born among your people and every boy who is a slave of your people must be circumcised.

Genesis 17:18
Then Abraham said to God, "I hope Ishmael will live and serve you."

Genesis 21:13
But I will also bless the son of your slave woman. He is your son, so I will make a great nation from his family also."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And say unto them, hear ye the word of the Lord,.... Concerning the sanctification of the sabbath; for this was not of human, but of divine institution:

ye kings of Judah; which must be understood either, as Kimchi thinks, of the then present king and his sons, so called because they would reign after him; for, there was but one king at a time; and who, perhaps, at this time, was Josiah: or else the king and his nobles, the princes of the land, are meant:

and all Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates; the people in the several parts of the land of Judea, that came to Jerusalem either for trade and merchandise, or for worship, and all that dwelt in the metropolis; for the business the prophet had to charge them with concerned them all.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This prophecy on the observance of the Sabbath, is the first of a series of short predictions. arranged probably in chronological order among themselves, but in other respects independent of one another. Its tone is mild, and dissuasive rather of future neglect than condemnatory of past misconduct; and it may be assigned to the commencement of Jehoiakim’s reign. Its similarity to the prophecy contained in Jeremiah 22:1-5 makes it probable that they were contemporaneous.

Jeremiah 17:19

The gate of the children of the people - Perhaps the principal entrance of the outer court of the temple. Very probably there was traffic there, as in our Lord’s time, in doves and other requisites for sacrifice, and so the warning to keep the Sabbath was as necessary there as at the city gates.

Jeremiah 17:21

To yourselves - literally, “in your souls, i. e., in yourselves.” They were to be on their guard from the depths of their own conscience, thoroughly and on conviction.

Bear no burden on the sabbath day - Apparently the Sabbath day was kept negligently. The country people were in the habit of coming to Jerusalem on the Sabbath to attend the temple service, but mingled traffic with their devotions, bringing the produce of their fields and gardens with them for disposal. The people of Jerusalem for their part took Jeremiah 17:22 their wares to the gates, and carried on a brisk traffic there with the villagers. Both parties seem to have abstained from manual labor, but did not consider that buying and selling were prohibited by the fourth commandment.

Jeremiah 17:25

A picture of national grandeur. The prophet associates with the king the princes of the Davidic lineage, who in magnificent procession accompany the king as he goes in and out of Jerusalem.

Shall remain forever - Or, “shall be inhabited forever:” populousness is promised.

Jeremiah 17:26

The reward for keeping the Sabbath day holy consists in three things;

(1) in great national prosperity,

(2) in the lasting welfare of Jerusalem, and

(3) in the wealth and piety of the people generally, indicated by their numerous sacrifices.

Bringing sacrifices of praise - Rather, “bringing praise.” This clause covers all that precedes.

The verse is interesting as specifying the exact limits of the dominions of the Davidic kings, now confined to Judah and Benjamin. These two tribes are divided according to their physical conformation into

(1) the Shefelah, or low country lying between the mountains and the Mediterranean;

(2) the mountain which formed the central region, extending to the wilderness of Judah, on the Dead Sea; and

(3) the Negeb, or arid region, which lay to the south of Judah.

Jeremiah 17:27

Upon disobedience follows the anger of God, which will consume like a fire all the, splendor of the offending city.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 17:20. Ye kings of Judah, and all Judah — This last clause is wanting in eight of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., in the Arabic, and some copies of the Septuagint.