Bible Strands
Jeremiah 25:38
He has left His den like a lion, for their land has been made a desolation by the sword of the oppressor, and because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah pronounces God's judgment to Judah and Jerusalem as divine wrath triggers an invasion that silences the land.
The words — עָזַב ('a.Zav) means "he has left," describing the departure from סֻכּוֹ (su.Ko), literally "his lair."
The thread — The lion imagery recurs in Jeremiah 4:7, Jeremiah 5:6, and Hosea 5:14, where God or His agents act as a predatory lion to tear apart Judah and Ephraim.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that national desolation results directly from the LORD's fierce anger, requiring readers to confront the unvarnished consequences of rebellion.
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
He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 4:7 A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and lie uninhabited.
- Jeremiah 5:6 Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous.
- Hosea 5:14 For I am like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them to pieces and then go away. I will carry them off where no one can rescue them.
- Hosea 13:7 So like a lion I will pounce on them; like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
- Psalms 76:2 His tent is in Salem, His dwelling place in Zion.
- 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?”
- Hosea 11:10 They will walk after the LORD; He will roar like a lion. When He roars, His children will come trembling from the west.
- Amos 8:8 Will not the land quake for this, and all its dwellers mourn? All of it will swell like the Nile; it will surge and then subside like the Nile in Egypt.
- Zechariah 2:3 Then the angel who was speaking with me went forth, and another angel came forward to meet him