Jeremiah 12:3

But You know me, O LORD; You see me and test my heart toward You. Drag away the wicked like sheep to the slaughter and set them apart for the day of carnage.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jeremiah addresses Yahweh directly during a moment of lament over the prosperity of the wicked. The prophet speaks after observing that the corrupt have taken root and maintain only superficial devotion.

The words — The text highlights וּ/בָחַנְתָּ֥ (u./va.chan.Ta), meaning "you test," applied to Jeremiah’s לִבִּ֖/י (li.B/i), "my heart," indicating divine examination of inward loyalty. It also uses הַתִּקֵ/ם֙ (ha.ti.Ke/m), "drag away," describing the forced removal of the wicked for judgment.

The thread — This motif of divine search and testing appears in Psalms 139:1, where Yahweh has searched and known the psalmist, and in Jeremiah 17:18, which contrasts the shame of persecutors with the prophet’s deliverance.

Why it lands — The passage demands honest self-examination before God’s scrutiny and acknowledges that judgment will ultimately fall on the wicked. It requires the reader to trust divine timing rather than demand immediate retribution.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְאַתָּ֤הve./'a.Tahand/ you יְהוָה֙Yah.wehO Yahweh יְדַעְתָּ֔נִיye.da'.Ta./niyou know/ me תִּרְאֵ֕נִיtir.'E./niyou see/ me וּבָחַנְתָּ֥u./va.chan.Taand/ you test לִבִּ֖יli.B/iheart/ my אִתָּ֑ךְ'i.Ta/khwith/ you הַתִּקֵם֙ha.ti.Ke/mdrag away/ them כְּצֹ֣אןke./Tzonlike/ sheep לְטִבְחָ֔הle./tiv.Chahto/ slaughter וְהַקְדִּשֵׁ֖םve./hak.di.She/mand/ set apart/ them לְי֥וֹםle./Yomto/ a day of הֲרֵגָֽה׃ סha.re.Gahslaughter

King James Version

But thou, O Lord, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

Cross-references

2 Kings 20:3 “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Jeremiah 17:18 Let my persecutors be put to shame, but do not let me be put to shame. Let them be terrified, but do not let me be terrified. Bring upon them the day of disaster and shatter them with double destruction.
Psalms 139:1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
Psalms 17:3 You have tried my heart; You have visited me in the night. You have tested me and found no evil; I have resolved not to sin with my mouth.
James 5:5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter.
Psalms 26:1 Of David. Vindicate me, O LORD! For I have walked with integrity; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
Psalms 44:21 would not God have discovered, since He knows the secrets of the heart?
Psalms 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
Jeremiah 50:27 Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come—the time of their punishment.
1 Chronicles 29:17 I know, my God, that You test the heart and delight in uprightness. All these things I have given willingly and with an upright heart, and now I have seen Your people who are present here giving joyfully and willingly to You.