Bible Strands
Jeremiah 25:14
For many nations and great kings will enslave them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.’”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through Jeremiah to pronounce judgment on Judah and the surrounding nations. This declaration occurs as part of a broader prophetic warning about the imminent cup of wrath that will be poured out on all peoples.
The words — The Hebrew verb עָֽבְדוּ ('a.ve.du) literally means "they will work," functioning here as a term for forced labor or enslavement. It is directly linked to גּוֹיִם (go.Yim, "nations") and רַבִּ֔ים (ra.Bim, "many") to establish the scope of the coming subjugation.
The thread — The pattern of foreign powers executing divine judgment appears in Jeremiah 27:7, where all nations serve a king appointed by God, and Jeremiah 50:9, where God mobilizes great nations against Babylon. These passages track the same prophetic sequence of sovereign judgment channeled through historical empires.
Why it lands — The text requires acknowledgment that divine repayment is calculated strictly by human deeds and labor. It demands the reader accept that geopolitical shifts and foreign rule function as measured retribution rather than random historical events.
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
For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 51:6 Flee from Babylon! Escape with your lives! Do not be destroyed in her punishment. For this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; He will pay her what she deserves.
- Jeremiah 27:7 All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.
- Jeremiah 50:9 For behold, I stir up and bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north. They will line up against her; from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed.
- Jeremiah 50:41 Behold, an army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are stirred up from the ends of the earth.
- Isaiah 14:2 The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess the nations as menservants and maidservants in the LORD’s land. They will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors.
- Isaiah 45:1 This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut:
- Isaiah 66:6 Hear the uproar from the city; listen to the voice from the temple! It is the voice of the LORD, repaying His enemies what they deserve!
- Psalms 137:8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.
- Jeremiah 50:29 Summon the archers against Babylon, all who string the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
- Jeremiah 51:20 “You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.