Jeremiah 14:13

THE MESSAGE

I said, "But Master, God ! Their preachers have been telling them that everything is going to be all right—no war and no famine—that there's nothing to worry about."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
And I replied, “Oh no, Lord God! The prophets are telling them, ‘You won’t see sword or suffer famine. I will certainly give you lasting peace in this place.’”

Hebrew Names Version
Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets tell them, You shall not see the sword, neither shall you have famine; but I will give you assured shalom in this place.

King James Version
Then said I, Ah, Lord God ! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.

English Standard Version
Then I said: "Ah, Lord God , behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.'"

New American Standard Bible
But I said, "Oh, Lord GOD! Behold, the prophets are telling them, 'You will not see a sword, nor will you have famine; on the contrary, I will give you lasting peace in this place.'"

New Century Version
But I said, "Oh, Lord God , the prophets keep telling the people, ‘You will not suffer from an enemy's sword or from hunger. I, the Lord , will give you peace in this land.'"

Amplified Bible
But I said, "Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, the [false] prophets are telling them, 'You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I [the LORD] will give you lasting peace in this place.'"

World English Bible
Then said I, Ah, Lord Yahweh! behold, the prophets tell them, You shall not see the sword, neither shall you have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then answered I, Ah Lord God, beholde, the prophets say vnto them, Ye shal not see the sworde, neither shal famine come vpon you, but I wil giue you assured peace in this place.

Legacy Standard Bible
But, "Ah, Lord Yahweh!" I said, "Behold, the prophets are saying to them, ‘You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you true peace in this place.'"

Berean Standard Bible
"Ah, Lord GOD!" I replied, "Look, the prophets are telling them, 'You will not see the sword or suffer famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.'"

Contemporary English Version
I replied, "The other prophets keep telling everyone that you won't send starvation or war, and that you're going to give us peace."

Complete Jewish Bible
Then I said, " Adonai , God! The prophets are telling them, ‘You won't see war, and you won't have famine; but I will give you secure peace in this place.'"

Darby Translation
And I said, Alas, Lord Jehovah! Behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; for I will give you assured peace in this place.

Easy-to-Read Version
But I said, "Lord God , the prophets were telling the people something different. They were telling the people of Judah, ‘You will not suffer from war or from hunger. The Lord will give you peace in this land.'"

George Lamsa Translation
Then I said, Hear me, I beseech thee, O LORD God! Behold, the prophets say to the people, You shall not see the sword, neither shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace and justice in this country.

Good News Translation
Then I said, "Sovereign Lord , you know that the prophets are telling the people that there will be no war or starvation, because you have promised, they say, that there will be only peace in our land."

Lexham English Bible
Then I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh, look, the prophets are saying to them, ‘You will not see the sword, and famine will not be yours, but reliable peace I will give to you in this place.'"

Literal Translation
Then I said, Ah, O Lord Jehovah! Behold, the prophets are saying to them, You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you true peace in this place.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then answerde I: O LORDE God, the prophetes saye vnto them: Tush, ye shal se no swearde, and no honger shall come vpon you, but the LORDE shal geue you continuall rest in this place.

American Standard Version
Then said I, Ah, Lord Jehovah! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.

Bible in Basic English
Then I said, Ah, Lord God! see, the prophets say to them, You will not see the sword or be short of food; but I will give you certain peace in this place.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then said I: 'Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them: Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.'

King James Version (1611)
Then said I Ah Lord God, behold, the prophets say vnto them; Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye haue famine, but I will giue you assured peace in this place.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then aunswered I: O Lorde God, the prophetes say vnto them, Tushe, ye shall neede to feare no sworde, and no hunger shall come vpon you: but the Lorde shall geue you sure rest in this place.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And I said, O ever living Lord! behold, their prophets prophesy, and say, Ye shall not see a sword, nor shall famine be among you; for I will give truth and peace on the land, and in this place.

English Revised Version
Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Y seide, A! A! A! Lord God, profetis seien to hem, Ye schulen not se swerd, and hungur schal not be in you, but he schal yyue to you veri pees in this place.

Update Bible Version
Then I said, Ah, Lord Yahweh! look, the prophets say to them, You shall not see the sword, neither shall you have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say to them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.

New English Translation
Then I said, "Oh, Lord God , look! The prophets are telling them that you said, ‘You will not experience war or suffer famine. I will give you lasting peace and prosperity in this land.'"

New King James Version
Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, the prophets say to them, "You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place."'

New Living Translation
Then I said, "O Sovereign Lord , their prophets are telling them, ‘All is well—no war or famine will come. The Lord will surely send you peace.'"

New Life Bible
Then I said, "O Lord God, the ones who speak in Your name are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword and you will not go hungry. But I will give you lasting peace in this place.'"

New Revised Standard
Then I said: "Ah, Lord God ! Here are the prophets saying to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you true peace in this place.'"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said I, Ah, My Lord Yahweh! Lo! the prophets, are saying to them - Ye shall not see the sword And famine, shall ye not have, - For prosperity in truth, will I give you, in this place.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And I said: Ah, ah, ah, O Lord God, the prophets say to them: You shall not see the sword, and there shall be no famine among you, but he will give you true peace in this place.

Revised Standard Version
Then I said: "Ah, Lord GOD, behold, the prophets say to them, 'You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.'"

Young's Literal Translation
And I say, `Ah, Lord Jehovah, Lo, the prophets are saying to them: Ye do not see a sword, yea, famine is not to you, For true peace I give to you in this place.'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
But, "Ah, Lord GOD!" I said, "Look, the prophets are telling them, 'You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.'"

Contextual Overview

¹⁰ Then God said of these people: "Since they loved to wander this way and that, never giving a thought to where they were going, I will now have nothing more to do with them— except to note their guilt and punish their sins." ¹¹ God said to me, "Don't pray that everything will turn out all right for this people. When they skip their meals in order to pray, I won't listen to a thing they say. When they redouble their prayers, bringing all kinds of offerings from their herds and crops, I'll not accept them. I'm finishing them off with war and famine and disease." ¹³ I said, "But Master, God ! Their preachers have been telling them that everything is going to be all right—no war and no famine—that there's nothing to worry about." ¹⁴ Then God said, "These preachers are liars, and they use my name to cover their lies. I never sent them, I never commanded them, and I don't talk with them. The sermons they've been handing out are sheer illusion, tissues of lies, whistlings in the dark. ¹⁵"So this is my verdict on them: All the preachers who preach using my name as their text, preachers I never sent in the first place, preachers who say, ‘War and famine will never come here'—these preachers will die in war and by starvation. And the people to whom they've been preaching will end up as corpses, victims of war and starvation, thrown out in the streets of Jerusalem unburied—no funerals for them or their wives or their children! I'll make sure they get the full brunt of all their evil.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Ah: Jeremiah 1:6, Jeremiah 4:10

behold: Jeremiah 5:31, Jeremiah 6:14, Jeremiah 8:11, Jeremiah 23:17, Jeremiah 28:2-5, Ezekiel 13:10-16, Ezekiel 13:22, Micah 3:11, 2 Peter 2:1

assured peace: Heb. peace of truth

Reciprocal: Genesis 3:5 - God Leviticus 26:25 - will bring 1 Kings 22:6 - Go up 2 Kings 6:25 - a great famine Isaiah 28:15 - we have made Isaiah 56:10 - are blind Jeremiah 5:12 - have belied Jeremiah 5:13 - the prophets Jeremiah 7:8 - ye trust Jeremiah 28:9 - which Jeremiah 32:17 - Ah Jeremiah 37:19 - your Lamentations 2:14 - prophets Ezekiel 9:8 - Ah Ezekiel 12:24 - General Ezekiel 33:8 - if thou Hosea 9:8 - but Zephaniah 3:4 - light Zechariah 10:2 - they comfort Luke 13:8 - let

Cross-References

Genesis 43:32
Joseph was served at his private table, the brothers off by themselves and the Egyptians off by themselves (Egyptians won't eat at the same table with Hebrews; it's repulsive to them). The brothers were seated facing Joseph, arranged in order of their age, from the oldest to the youngest. They looked at one another wide-eyed, wondering what would happen next. When the brothers' plates were served from Joseph's table, Benjamin's plate came piled high, far more so than his brothers. And so the brothers feasted with Joseph, drinking freely.

Exodus 2:11
Time passed. Moses grew up. One day he went and saw his brothers, saw all that hard labor. Then he saw an Egyptian hit a Hebrew—one of his relatives! He looked this way and then that; when he realized there was no one in sight, he killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.

Numbers 21:21
Israel sent emissaries to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, "Let us cross your land. We won't trespass into your fields or drink water in your vineyards. We'll keep to the main road, the King's Road, until we're through your land."

1 Samuel 4:12
Immediately, a Benjaminite raced from the front lines back to Shiloh. Shirt torn and face smeared with dirt, he entered the town. Eli was sitting on his stool beside the road keeping vigil, for he was extremely worried about the Chest of God. When the man ran straight into town to tell the bad news, everyone wept. They were appalled. Eli heard the loud wailing and asked, "Why this uproar?" The messenger hurried over and reported. Eli was ninety-eight years old then, and blind. The man said to Eli, "I've just come from the front, barely escaping with my life." "And so, my son," said Eli, "what happened?"

Jonah 1:9
He told them, "I'm a Hebrew. I worship God , the God of heaven who made sea and land."

2 Corinthians 11:22
Pseudo-Servants of God Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment. The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much—this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in marriage to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband. And now I'm afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ. It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached—different spirit, different message—you put up with him quite nicely. But if you put up with these big-shot "apostles," why can't you put up with simple me? I'm as good as they are. It's true that I don't have their voice, haven't mastered that smooth eloquence that impresses you so much. But when I do open my mouth, I at least know what I'm talking about. We haven't kept anything back. We let you in on everything. I wonder, did I make a bad mistake in proclaiming God's Message to you without asking for something in return, serving you free of charge so that you wouldn't be inconvenienced by me? It turns out that the other churches paid my way so that you could have a free ride. Not once during the time I lived among you did anyone have to lift a finger to help me out. My needs were always supplied by the believers from Macedonia province. I was careful never to be a burden to you, and I never will be, you can count on it. With Christ as my witness, it's a point of honor with me, and I'm not going to keep it quiet just to protect you from what the neighbors will think. It's not that I don't love you; God knows I do. I'm just trying to keep things open and honest between us. And I'm not changing my position on this. I'd die before taking your money. I'm giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing "preachers," vaunting themselves as something special. They're a sorry bunch—pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ's agents but sham to the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn't surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they're not getting by with anything. They'll pay for it in the end. Let me come back to where I started—and don't hold it against me if I continue to sound a little foolish. Or if you'd rather, just accept that I am a fool and let me rant on a little. I didn't learn this kind of talk from Christ. Oh, no, it's a bad habit I picked up from the three-ring preachers that are so popular these days. Since you sit there in the judgment seat observing all these shenanigans, you can afford to humor an occasional fool who happens along. You have such admirable tolerance for impostors who rob your freedom, rip you off, steal you blind, put you down—even slap your face! I shouldn't admit it to you, but our stomachs aren't strong enough to tolerate that kind of stuff. Since you admire the egomaniacs of the pulpit so much (remember, this is your old friend, the fool, talking), let me try my hand at it. Do they brag of being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I'm their match. Are they servants of Christ? I can go them one better. (I can't believe I'm saying these things. It's crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I'm going to finish.)

Philippians 2:5
Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said I, Ah, Lord God!.... Being grieved at heart for the people, because he was forbid to pray for them, and because the Lord had resolved on the ruin of them; and the rather he pitied them, because they were deceived by the false prophets, and therefore he tries to excuse them, and lay the blame upon them, as follows:

behold, the prophets say unto them; that is, the false prophets, as the Targum; Jeremiah does not call them so, being willing to make the best of it:

ye shall not see the sword; the sword of the enemy drawn in your country, or fall by it:

neither shall ye have famine; by which it appears, that it was not yet come, only foretold; the contrary to which is here affirmed:

but I will give you assured peace in this place; so they spoke as from the Lord, and in his name, with all the confidence imaginable; assuring the people that they should have peace and prosperity, and be in the utmost safety in Jerusalem; and that neither famine nor sword would come to them, nor in the least hurt them. In the Hebrew text it is, "peace of truth" l; that is, true peace, firm and lasting. The Septuagint render it "peace and truth"; see Isaiah 39:8.

l שלום אמת "pacem veritatis", Montanus, Schmidt.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The false prophets in Jeremiah’s days were so numerous and influential an to counteract and almost nullify the influence of the true prophet. We find in Isaiah the first indications of the internal decay of the prophetic order; and Micah, his contemporary, denounces the false prophets in the strongest terms Micah 3:5, Micah 3:11. For the secret of their power see Jeremiah 5:31.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 14:13. Ah, Lord God! behold, the prophets say unto them — True, Lord, they are exceedingly wicked; but the false prophets have deceived them; this is some mitigation of their offense. This plea God does not admit; and why? the people believed them, without having any proof of their Divine mission.