Jeremiah 25:28

If they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink it, you are to tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘You most certainly must drink it!

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jeremiah conveys a message from the LORD of Hosts to the nations as God initiates judgment on the city that bears His Name. The command is delivered at the moment disaster begins, establishing the inevitability of the coming sword.

The words — The Hebrew יְמָאֲנ֛וּ (ye.ma.'a.Nu) literally means "they will refuse," denoting a deliberate rejection of the cup. The phrase וְ/הָיָ֗ה (ve./ha.Yah) functions as a conditional marker, translating to "and it will be" or "then it shall be."

The thread — The tension between human refusal and divine compulsion appears in Job 34:33, where God rejects human terms and demands submission. The certainty of God’s declared purpose is reinforced in Isaiah 14:24 and Isaiah 46:10, which affirm that His plans will stand regardless of opposition.

Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize that divine judgment operates independently of human consent. It demands acceptance that the cup of consequence cannot be declined without facing the declared outcome.

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

וְהָיָ֗הve./ha.Yahand/ it will be כִּ֧יkithat יְמָאֲנ֛וּye.ma.'a.Nuthey will refuse לָקַֽחַת־la./ka.chat-to/ take הַכּ֥וֹסha./Kosthe/ cup מִיָּדְךָ֖mi./ya.de./Khafrom/ hand/ your לִשְׁתּ֑וֹתli/sh.Totto/ drink וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ve./'a.mar.Taand/ you will say אֲלֵיהֶ֗ם'a.lei./Hemto/ them כֹּ֥הkohthus אָמַ֛ר'a.Marhe says יְהוָ֥הYah.wehYahweh צְבָא֖וֹתtze.va.'otof hosts שָׁת֥וֹsha.Tocertainly <to drink>תִשְׁתּֽוּ׃tish.Tuyou will drink

King James Version

And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.

Cross-references

Job 34:33 Should God repay you on your own terms when you have disavowed Him? You must choose, not I; so tell me what you know.
Isaiah 14:24 The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand.
Isaiah 46:10 I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
Jeremiah 4:28 Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above will grow dark. I have spoken, I have planned, and I will not relent or turn back.”
Jeremiah 49:12 For this is what the LORD says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must drink it too.
Jeremiah 51:29 The earth quakes and writhes because the LORD’s intentions against Babylon stand: to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
Daniel 4:35 All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”
Acts 4:28 They carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen.
Ephesians 1:11 In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,