Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The LORD addresses the exiles in Babylon, in the immediate context of a time-bound promise: after seventy years, He will restore them to their land (v. 10).

The words — machashavot (מַחֲשָׁבוֹת), "plans," is the object of "I know" and the thing held in divine mind; choshev (חֹשֵׁב), a present participle "planning," marks the action as ongoing rather than a single decree.

The thread — The same noun appears in Isaiah 55:8, where God's thoughts are set against human ones, and in Psalm 33:11, where the LORD's counsel is described as standing forever.

Why it lands — The verse is a promise to a specific community under a specific condition (seventy years of exile), not a universal guarantee to every individual reader; it asks the reader to hold the original audience before applying it elsewhere.

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

כִּי֩kifor אָנֹכִ֨י'a.no.KhiI יָדַ֜עְתִּיya.Da'.tiI know אֶת־'et-<obj.>הַמַּחֲשָׁבֹ֗תha./ma.cha.sha.Votthe/ plans אֲשֶׁ֧ר'a.Sherwhich אָנֹכִ֛י'a.no.KhiI חֹשֵׁ֥בcho.Shev[am] planning עֲלֵיכֶ֖ם'a.lei./Khemon/ you נְאֻם־ne.'um-[the] utterance of יְהוָ֑הYah.wehYahweh מַחְשְׁב֤וֹתmach.she.Votplans of שָׁלוֹם֙sha.lOmwell-being וְלֹ֣אve./Lo'and/ not לְרָעָ֔הle./ra.'Ahfor/ harm לָתֵ֥תla./Tetto/ giveלָכֶ֖םla./Khemto <the>/ youאַחֲרִ֥ית'a.cha.Rita future וְתִקְוָֽה׃ve./tik.Vahand/ a hope

King James Version

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Cross-references

Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
Psalms 33:11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the purposes of His heart to all generations.
Micah 4:12 But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD or understand His plan, for He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
Psalms 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, and the plans You have for us—none can compare to You—if I proclaim and declare them, they are more than I can count.
Job 23:13 But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him? He does what He desires.
Lamentations 3:26 It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
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.’
Ezekiel 34:11 For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out.
Jeremiah 3:12 Go, proclaim this message toward the north: ‘Return, O faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will no longer look on you with anger, for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will not be angry forever.
Jeremiah 31:1 “At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be My people.”