Bible Strands
Jeremiah 38:20
“They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey the voice of the LORD in what I am telling you, that it may go well with you and you may live.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jeremiah responds to King Zedekiah immediately after the monarch voices fear that Jewish deserters will betray him to the Chaldean army.
The words — The Hebrew יִתֵּ֑נוּ (yi.Te.nu) literally means "they will give" or "hand over," while שְׁמַֽע (she.ma'-) issues the imperative "listen" or "obey."
The thread — The conditional link between hearing God’s voice and receiving life runs through Isaiah 55:3, Jeremiah 26:13, and Daniel 4:27.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to treat the prophetic instruction as non-negotiable, framing obedience as the sole mechanism for preservation.
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
But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear and come to Me; listen, so that your soul may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant—My loving devotion promised to David.
- Jeremiah 26:13 So now, correct your ways and deeds, and obey the voice of the LORD your God, so that He might relent of the disaster He has pronounced against you.
- Daniel 4:27 Therefore, may my advice be pleasing to you, O king. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed. Perhaps there will be an extension of your prosperity.”
- 2 Chronicles 20:20 Early in the morning they got up and left for the Wilderness of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, “Hear me, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be upheld; believe in His prophets, and you will succeed.”
- Acts 26:29 “Short time or long,” Paul replied, “I wish to God that not only you but all who hear me this day may become what I am, except for these chains.”
- Jeremiah 11:4 which I commanded your forefathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey Me, and do everything I command you, and you will be My people, and I will be your God.’
- 2 Corinthians 5:11 Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well.
- 2 Corinthians 5:20 Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.
- 2 Corinthians 6:1 As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
- Philemon 1:8 So although in Christ I am bold enough to order you to do what is proper,