Jeremiah 19:9

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and they will eat each other’s flesh in the distressing siege inflicted on them by their enemies who intend to take their life.’

Hebrew Names Version
I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat everyone the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies, and those who seek their life, shall distress them.

King James Version
And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.

English Standard Version
And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbor in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.'

New American Standard Bible
"And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh during the siege and in the hardship with which their enemies and those who seek their life will torment them."'

New Century Version
An enemy army will surround the city and will not let anyone go out to get food. I will make the people so hungry that they will eat the bodies of their own sons and daughters, and then they will begin to eat each other.'

Amplified Bible
"And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and each one will eat one another's flesh during the siege and distress brought by their enemies and those who seek their lives."'

World English Bible
I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat everyone the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies, and those who seek their life, shall distress them.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And I will feede the with the flesh of their sonnes and with the flesh of their daughters, and euery one shall eate the flesh of his friende in the siege and straitnes, wherewith their enemies that seeke their liues, shall hold them strait.

Legacy Standard Bible
I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them."'

Berean Standard Bible
I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh in the siege and distress inflicted on them by their enemies who seek their lives.'

Contemporary English Version
And while your enemies are trying to break through your city walls to kill you, the food supply will run out. You will become so hungry that you will eat the flesh of your friends and even of your own children.

Complete Jewish Bible
I will cause them to eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters; everyone will be eating the flesh of his friends during the siege, because of the shortage imposed on them by their enemies and those set on killing them."'

Darby Translation
And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat everyone the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the straitness wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.

Easy-to-Read Version
The enemy will bring its army around the city. That army will not let people go out to get food, so the people in the city will begin to starve. They will become so hungry that they will eat the bodies of their own sons and daughters, and then they will begin to eat each other.'

George Lamsa Translation
And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his neighbors in the siege and in the affliction with which their enemies and those who seek their lives shall inflict upon them.

Good News Translation
The enemy will surround the city and try to kill its people. The siege will be so terrible that the people inside the city will eat one another and even their own children."

Lexham English Bible
And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, and each one will eat the flesh of his neighbor in the siege and in the distress which their enemies and those who seek their life inflict on them."'

Literal Translation
And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters. And they shall each one eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life shall distress them.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
I will fede them also wt the flesh of their sonnes & their doughters. Yee euery one shal eate vp another in the beseginge & straytnesse, wher wt their enemies (yt seke their lyues) shal kepe the in.

American Standard Version
And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their life, shall distress them.

Bible in Basic English
I will make them take the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters for food, they will be making a meal of one another, because of their bitter need and the cruel grip of their haters and those who have made designs against their life.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
and I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their life, shall straiten them.

King James Version (1611)
And I will cause them to eate the flesh of their sonnes and the flesh of their daughters, and they shal eate euery one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitnesse, wherewith their enemies, and they that seeke their liues, shall straiten them.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
I will feede them also with the flesh of their sonnes and their daughters, yea euery one shall eate vp another in the besieging & straytnesse wherewith their enemies [that seeke their liues] shall kepe them in.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And they shall eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat every one the flesh of his neighbour in the blockade, and in the siege wherewith their enemies shall besiege them.

English Revised Version
And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their life, shall straiten them.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Y schal feede hem with the fleischis of her sones, and with the fleischis of her douytris; and ech man schal ete the fleischis of his frend in the bisegyng and angwisch, in which the enemyes of hem, and thei that seken the lyues of hem, schulen close hem togidere.

Update Bible Version
And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies, and those that seek their life, shall distress them.

Webster's Bible Translation
And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and distress with which their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall distress them.

New English Translation
I will reduce the people of this city to desperate straits during the siege imposed on it by their enemies who are seeking to kill them. I will make them so desperate that they will eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters and the flesh of one another."'"

New King James Version
And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the desperation with which their enemies and those who seek their lives shall drive them to despair."'

New Living Translation
I will see to it that your enemies lay siege to the city until all the food is gone. Then those trapped inside will eat their own sons and daughters and friends. They will be driven to utter despair.'

New Life Bible
I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters. And they will eat each other's flesh when the armies shut them in, and when those who want to kill them bring much trouble to them."'

New Revised Standard
And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and all shall eat the flesh of their neighbors in the siege, and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And I will suffer them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, yea every one - the flesh of his friend, will they eat, - in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith, their enemies, and they who seek their lives, will straiten them.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And I will feed them with the flesh of their sons, and with the flesh of their daughters: and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege, and in the distress wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.

Revised Standard Version
And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and every one shall eat the flesh of his neighbor in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.'

Young's Literal Translation
And I have caused them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, and each the flesh of his friend they do eat, in the siege and in the straitness with which straiten them do their enemies, and those seeking their life.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them."'

Contextual Overview

¹ God said to me, "Go, buy a clay pot. Then get a few leaders from the people and a few of the leading priests and go out to the Valley of Ben-hinnom, just outside the Potsherd Gate, and preach there what I tell you. ³"Say, ‘Listen to God 's Word, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem! This is the Message from God -of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel. I'm about to bring doom crashing down on this place. Oh, and will ears ever ring! Doom—because they've walked off and left me, and made this place strange by worshiping strange gods, gods never heard of by them, their parents, or the old kings of Judah. Doom—because they have massacred innocent people. Doom—because they've built altars to that no-god Baal, and burned their own children alive in the fire as offerings to Baal, an atrocity I never ordered, never so much as hinted at! ⁶"‘And so it's payday, and soon'— God 's Decree!—‘this place will no longer be known as Topheth or Valley of Ben-hinnom, but Massacre Meadows. I'm canceling all the plans Judah and Jerusalem had for this place, and I'll have them killed by their enemies. I'll stack their dead bodies to be eaten by carrion crows and wild dogs. I'll turn this city into such a museum of atrocities that anyone coming near will be shocked speechless by the savage brutality. The people will turn into cannibals. Dehumanized by the pressure of the enemy siege, they'll eat their own children! Yes, they'll eat one another, family and friends alike.'

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

eat the: Leviticus 26:29, Deuteronomy 28:53-57, 2 Kings 6:26-29, Isaiah 9:20, Lamentations 2:20, Lamentations 4:10, Ezekiel 5:10

Reciprocal: Isaiah 36:12 - that they may Jeremiah 13:14 - I will dash Jeremiah 52:6 - the famine Lamentations 1:11 - seek Lamentations 3:51 - the daughters Lamentations 4:3 - the daughter Zechariah 11:9 - and let James 5:3 - and shall

Cross-References

Genesis 11:6
God took one look and said, "One people, one language; why, this is only a first step. No telling what they'll come up with next—they'll stop at nothing! Come, we'll go down and garble their speech so they won't understand each other." Then God scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit building the city. That's how it came to be called Babel, because there God turned their language into "babble." From there God scattered them all over the world.

Genesis 13:12
So Abram left Egypt and went back to the Negev, he and his wife and everything he owned, and Lot still with him. By now Abram was very rich, loaded with cattle and silver and gold. He moved on from the Negev, camping along the way, to Bethel, the place he had first set up his tent between Bethel and Ai and built his first altar. Abram prayed there to God . Lot, who was traveling with Abram, was also rich in sheep and cattle and tents. But the land couldn't support both of them; they had too many possessions. They couldn't both live there—quarrels broke out between Abram's shepherds and Lot's shepherds. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living on the land at the time. Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have fighting between us, between your shepherds and my shepherds. After all, we're family. Look around. Isn't there plenty of land out there? Let's separate. If you go left, I'll go right; if you go right, I'll go left." Lot looked. He saw the whole plain of the Jordan spread out, well watered (this was before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah), like God 's garden, like Egypt, and stretching all the way to Zoar. Lot took the whole plain of the Jordan. Lot set out to the east. That's how they came to part company, uncle and nephew. Abram settled in Canaan; Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent near Sodom.

Genesis 19:26
But Lot's wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt.

Exodus 2:14
The man shot back: "Who do you think you are, telling us what to do? Are you going to kill me the way you killed that Egyptian?" Then Moses panicked: "Word's gotten out—people know about this."

1 Samuel 17:44
"Come on," said the Philistine. "I'll make roadkill of you for the buzzards. I'll turn you into a tasty morsel for the field mice."

Proverbs 14:16
The wise watch their steps and avoid evil; fools are headstrong and reckless.

Proverbs 17:12
Better to meet a grizzly robbed of her cubs than a fool hellbent on folly.

Proverbs 27:3
Carrying a log across your shoulders while you're hefting a boulder with your arms Is nothing compared to the burden of putting up with a fool.

Matthew 7:6
"Don't be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give no honor to God. Don't reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant, you're only being cute and inviting sacrilege.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters,.... For want of food; the famine should be so great and pressing. Jeremiah, that foretells this, was a witness of it, and has left it on record, Lamentations 4:10;

and they shall eat everyone the flesh of his friend. The Targum interprets it, the goods or substance of his neighbour; which is sometimes the sense of eating the flesh of another; but as it is to be taken in a literal sense, in the preceding clause, so in this: so it should be,

in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them; the siege of Jerusalem should be so close, that no provision could be got in to the relief of the inhabitants; which obliged them to take the shocking methods before mentioned. Jerom observes, that though this was fulfilled at the Babylonish captivity, yet more fully when Jerusalem was besieged by Vespasian and Titus, and in the times of Hadrian. Josephus q gives us a most shocking relation of a woman eating her own son.

q De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 3. sect. 4.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 19:9. I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons — This was literally fulfilled when Jerusalem was besieged by the Romans. This also the prophet might have had in view.