Bible Strands
Jeremiah 8:19
Listen to the cry of the daughter of my people from a land far away: “Is the LORD no longer in Zion? Is her King no longer there?” “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images, with their worthless foreign idols?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah addresses the people of Judah during a period of national crisis, positioned between his declaration of unhealed sorrow in 8:18 and the warning that the harvest has passed without salvation in 8:20.
The words — שׁוֹעַת (shav'at) denotes a cry for help, and מַרְחָקִים (marchaqim) literally means distant places, both anchoring the verse’s depiction of exile and desperation.
The thread — The motif of distant lands appears in Isaiah 13:5, which describes forces coming from faraway places to execute divine wrath, while Revelation 2:1 introduces Christ holding the seven stars in His right hand.
Why it lands — The text records a desperate question about God's presence in Zion and a direct accusation regarding idolatry, demanding that readers confront the reality of divine absence and the futility of false worship.
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
Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?
Cross-references
- Isaiah 39:3 Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?” “They came to me from a distant land,” Hezekiah replied, “from Babylon.”
- Isaiah 13:5 They are coming from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens—the LORD and the weapons of His wrath—to destroy the whole country.
- Revelation 2:1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of Him who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.
- Deuteronomy 32:16 They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; they enraged Him with abominations.
- Psalms 135:21 Blessed be the LORD from Zion—He who dwells in Jerusalem. Hallelujah!
- Psalms 146:10 The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Hallelujah!
- Psalms 149:2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.
- Isaiah 12:6 Cry out and sing, O citizen of Zion, for great among you is the Holy One of Israel.”
- Isaiah 33:22 For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our King. It is He who will save us.
- Isaiah 52:1 Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, holy city! For the uncircumcised and unclean will no longer enter you.