Jeremiah 10:19

THE MESSAGE

But it's a black day for me! Hopelessly wounded, I said, "Why, oh why did I think I could bear it?" My house is ruined— the roof caved in. Our children are gone— we'll never see them again. No one left to help in rebuilding, no one to make a new start!

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Woe to me because of my brokenness—I am severely wounded!I exclaimed, “This is my intense suffering,but I must bear it.”

Hebrew Names Version
Woe is me because of my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is [my] grief, and I must bear it.

King James Version
Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous; but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.

English Standard Version
Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is grievous. But I said, "Truly this is an affliction, and I must bear it."

New American Standard Bible
Woe to me, because of my injury! My wound is incurable. But I said, "This certainly is a sickness, And I must endure it."

New Century Version
How terrible it will be for me because of my injury. My wound cannot be healed. Yet I told myself, "This is my sickness; I must suffer through it."

Amplified Bible
"Woe to me because of my [spiritual] brokenness!" [says Jeremiah, speaking for the nation.] "My wound is incurable." But I said, "Surely this sickness and suffering and grief are mine, And I must bear it."

World English Bible
Woe is me because of my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is [my] grief, and I must bear it.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Wo is me for my destruction, and my grieuous plague: but I thought, Yet it is my sorow, and I will beare it.

Legacy Standard Bible
Woe is me, because of my injury!My wound is desperately sick.But I said, "Truly this is a sickness,And I must bear it."

Berean Standard Bible
Woe to me because of my brokenness; my wound is grievous! But I said, "This is truly my sickness, and I must bear it."

Contemporary English Version
The people answered, "We are wounded and doomed to die. Why did we say we could stand the pain?

Complete Jewish Bible
Woe to me because of my wound! My injury is incurable! I used to say, "It's only an illness, and I can bear it."

Darby Translation
Woe is me, for my wound! My stroke is hard to heal, and I had said, Yea, this is [my] grief, and I will bear it.

Easy-to-Read Version
I am hurt badly. I am injured and I cannot be healed. But I told myself, "This is my sickness; I must suffer through it."

George Lamsa Translation
Woe to me for my hurt! my wound is grievous; but I said, Truly this is my grief and I must bear it.

Good News Translation
The people of Jerusalem cried out, "How badly we are hurt! Our wounds will not heal. And we thought this was something we could endure!

Lexham English Bible
Woe to me, because of my wound. My wound is incurable. But I said, "Surely this is my sickness, and I must bear it."

Literal Translation
Woe to me for my breaking! My wound is grievous. But I said, Truly this is a malady, and I must bear it.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Alas, how am I hurte? Alas, how panefull are my scourges vnto me? For I cosidre this sorow by my self, & I must suffre it,

American Standard Version
Woe is me because of my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it.

Bible in Basic English
Sorrow is mine for I am wounded! my wound may not be made well; and I said, Cruel is my disease, I may not be free from it.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Woe is me for my hurt! My wound is grievous; but I said: 'This is but a sickness, and I must bear it.'

King James Version (1611)
Woe is mee for my hurt, my wound is grieuous: but I sayd, Truely this is a griefe, and I must beare it.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Alas howe am I hurt? alas howe paynefull are my scourges vnto me? for I consider this sorowe by my selfe, and I must suffer it.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Alas for thy ruin! thy plague is grievous: and I said, Surely this is thy wound, and it has overtaken thee.

English Revised Version
Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Wo to me on my sorewe, my wounde is ful yuel; forsothe Y seide, Pleynli this is my sikenesse, and Y schal bere it.

Update Bible Version
Woe is me because of my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is [my] grief, and I must bear it.

Webster's Bible Translation
Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this [is] a grief, and I must bear it.

New English Translation
And I cried out, "We are doomed! Our wound is severe! We once thought, ‘This is only an illness. And we will be able to bear it!'

New King James Version
Woe is me for my hurt! My wound is severe. But I say, "Truly this is an infirmity, And I must bear it."

New Living Translation
My wound is severe, and my grief is great. My sickness is incurable, but I must bear it.

New Life Bible
It is bad for me because I am hurt! My sore cannot be healed. But I said, "For sure this sickness is mine, and I must suffer with it."

New Revised Standard
Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is severe. But I said, "Truly this is my punishment, and I must bear it."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Woe to me! for my grievous injury, Severe, is my wound, - But, I, said, Verily, this, is an affliction and I must bear it:

Douay-Rheims Bible
Woe is me for my destruction, my wound is very grievous. But I said: Truly this is my own evil, and I will bear it.

Revised Standard Version
Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is grievous. But I said, "Truly this is an affliction, and I must bear it."

Young's Literal Translation
Wo to me for my breaking, Grievious hath been my smiting, And I said, Only, this [is] my sickness, and I bear it.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Woe is me, because of my injury! My wound is incurable. But I said, "Truly this is a sickness, And I must bear it."

Contextual Overview

¹⁷Grab your bags, all you who are under attack. God has given notice: "Attention! I'm evicting Everyone who lives here, And right now—yes, right now! I'm going to press them to the limit, squeeze the life right out of them." ¹⁹But it's a black day for me! Hopelessly wounded, I said, "Why, oh why did I think I could bear it?" My house is ruined— the roof caved in. Our children are gone— we'll never see them again. No one left to help in rebuilding, no one to make a new start! ²¹ It's because our leaders are stupid. They never asked God for counsel, And so nothing worked right. The people are scattered all over. ²² But listen! Something's coming! A big commotion from the northern borders! Judah's towns about to be smashed, left to all the stray dogs and cats! ²³I know, God , that mere mortals can't run their own lives, That men and women don't have what it takes to take charge of life. So correct us, God , as you see best. Don't lose your temper. That would be the end of us. Vent your anger on the godless nations, who refuse to acknowledge you, And on the people who won't pray to you— The very ones who've made hash out of Jacob, yes, made hash And devoured him whole, people and pastures alike.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Woe: Jeremiah 4:19, Jeremiah 4:31, Jeremiah 8:21, Jeremiah 9:1, Jeremiah 17:13, Lamentations 1:2, Lamentations 1:12-22, Lamentations 2:11-22, Lamentations 3:48

Truly: Psalms 39:9, Psalms 77:10, Isaiah 8:17, Lamentations 3:18-21, Lamentations 3:39, Lamentations 3:40, Micah 7:9

Reciprocal: Jeremiah 4:13 - Woe Jeremiah 4:20 - suddenly Jeremiah 8:18 - my

Cross-References

Genesis 10:1
This is the family tree of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. After the flood, they themselves had sons.

Genesis 10:2
The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, Tiras.

Genesis 10:7
The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba, Dedan.

Genesis 10:8
Cush also had Nimrod. He was the first great warrior on Earth. He was a great hunter before God . There was a saying, "Like Nimrod, a great hunter before God ." His kingdom got its start with Babel; then Erech, Akkad, and Calneh in the country of Shinar. From there he went up to Asshur and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and the great city Calah.

Genesis 10:15
Canaan had Sidon his firstborn, Heth, the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Later the Canaanites spread out, going from Sidon toward Gerar, as far south as Gaza, and then east all the way over to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and on to Lasha.

Genesis 10:21
Shem, the older brother of Japheth, also had sons. Shem was ancestor to all the children of Eber.

Genesis 10:24
Arphaxad had Shelah and Shelah had Eber. Eber had two sons, Peleg (so named because in his days the human race divided) and Joktan.

Genesis 18:20
God continued, "The cries of the victims in Sodom and Gomorrah are deafening; the sin of those cities is immense. I'm going down to see for myself, see if what they're doing is as bad as it sounds. Then I'll know."

Genesis 20:1
Abraham traveled from there south to the Negev and settled down between Kadesh and Shur. While he was camping in Gerar, Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She's my sister." So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her. But God came to Abimelech in a dream that night and told him, "You're as good as dead—that woman you took, she's a married woman." Now Abimelech had not yet slept with her, hadn't so much as touched her. He said, "Master, would you kill an innocent man? Didn't he tell me, ‘She's my sister'? And didn't she herself say, ‘He's my brother'? I had no idea I was doing anything wrong when I did this." God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know your intentions were pure, that's why I kept you from sinning against me; I was the one who kept you from going to bed with her. So now give the man's wife back to him. He's a prophet and will pray for you—pray for your life. If you don't give her back, know that it's certain death both for you and everyone in your family." Abimelech was up first thing in the morning. He called all his house servants together and told them the whole story. They were shocked. Then Abimelech called in Abraham and said, "What have you done to us? What have I ever done to you that you would bring on me and my kingdom this huge offense? What you've done to me ought never to have been done." Abimelech went on to Abraham, "Whatever were you thinking of when you did this thing?" Abraham said, "I just assumed that there was no fear of God in this place and that they'd kill me to get my wife. Besides, the truth is that she is my half sister; she's my father's daughter but not my mother's. When God sent me out as a wanderer from my father's home, I told her, ‘Do me a favor; wherever we go, tell people that I'm your brother.'" Then Abimelech gave Sarah back to Abraham, and along with her sent sheep and cattle and servants, both male and female. He said, "My land is open to you; live wherever you wish." And to Sarah he said, "I've given your brother a thousand pieces of silver—that clears you of even a shadow of suspicion before the eyes of the world. You're vindicated." Then Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his maidservants, and they started having babies again. For God had shut down every womb in Abimelech's household on account of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

Genesis 26:1
There was a famine in the land, as bad as the famine during the time of Abraham. And Isaac went down to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Woe is me for my hurt!.... Or "breach" a; which was made upon the people of the Jews, when besieged, taken, and carried captive; with whom the prophet heartily sympathized, and considered their calamities and distresses as his own; for these are the words of the prophet, lamenting the sad estate of his people.

My wound is grievous; causes grief, is very painful, and hard to be endured:

but I said; within himself, after he had thoroughly considered the matter:

this is a grief; an affliction, a trial, and exercise:

and I must bear it; patiently and quietly, since it is of God, and is justly brought upon the people for their sins.

a על שברי "propter confractionem meam", Cocceius Schmidt,

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The lamentation of the daughter of Zion, the Jewish Church, at the devastation of the land, and her humble prayer to God for mercy.

Jeremiah 10:19

Grievous - Rather, “mortal,” i. e., fatal, incurable.

A grief - Or, “my grief.”

Jeremiah 10:20

tabernacle - i. e., “tent.” Jerusalem laments that her tent is plundered and her children carried into exile, and so “are not,” are dead Matthew 2:18, either absolutely, or dead to her in the remote land of their captivity. They can aid the widowed mother no longer in pitching her tent, or in hanging up the curtains round about it.

Jeremiah 10:21

Therefore they shall not prosper - Rather, “therefore they have not governed wisely.” “The pastors,” i. e., the kings and rulers Jeremiah 2:8, having sunk to the condition of barbarous and untutored men, could not govern wisely.

Jeremiah 10:22

The “great commotion” is the confused noise of the army on its march (see Jeremiah 8:16).

Dragons - i. e., jackals; see the marginal reference.

Jeremiah 10:23

At the rumour of the enemy’s approach Jeremiah utters in the name of the nation a supplication appropriate to men overtaken by the divine justice.

Jeremiah 10:24

With judgment - In Jeremiah 30:11; Jeremiah 46:28, the word “judgment” (with a different preposition) is rendered “in measure.” The contrast therefore is between punishment inflicted in anger, and that inflicted as a duty of justice, of which the object is the criminal’s reformation. Jeremiah prays that God would punish Jacob so far only as would bring him to true repentance, but that he would pour forth his anger upon the pagan, as upon that which opposes itself to God Jeremiah 10:25.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 10:19. This is a grief, and I must bear it. — Oppressive as it is, I have deserved it, and worse; but even in this judgment God remembers mercy.