Bible Strands
Jeremiah 12:5
“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jeremiah addresses God amid national mourning and personal betrayal, questioning divine justice after enduring exhaustion from earthly conflicts. The words — רַצְתָּה (ratz.tah) translates literally as "you have run," and וַיַּלְא֔וּךָ (va/i.yal.'U./kha) means "and they have made you weary." The thread — This theme of enduring trial without surprise appears in 1 Peter 4:12, Proverbs 24:10, and Hebrews 12:3, where fatigue and steadfastness are repeatedly examined. Why it lands — The text demands readiness for intensified hardship by contrasting current endurance with future severity, asking the reader to expect greater trials rather than question them.
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
King James Version
If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
Cross-references
- 1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.
- Proverbs 24:10 If you faint in the day of distress, how small is your strength!
- Hebrews 12:3 Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
- Psalms 69:1 For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Lilies.” Of David. Save me, O God, for the waters are up to my neck.
- Psalms 42:7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and waves have rolled over me.
- Proverbs 3:11 My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke;
- Jeremiah 49:19 Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Edom from her land. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? For who is like Me, and who can challenge Me? What shepherd can stand against Me?”
- Jeremiah 50:44 Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Babylon from her land. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? For who is like Me, and who can challenge Me? What shepherd can stand against Me?”
- Joshua 3:15 Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge,
- Jeremiah 26:8 and as soon as he had finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You must surely die!