Bible Strands
Jeremiah 9:15
Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will feed this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, addresses Judah immediately after condemning their idolatry and stubborn adherence to ancestral Baal worship. He pronounces judgment on the people for rejecting His instruction and walking in their own stubborn hearts.
The words — The phrase כֹּה־אָמַר יְהוָה (koh-'a.mar Yah.weh) translates literally as "thus says Yahweh," marking a formal prophetic declaration. The verb הִנְנִי (hi./Ni) appears as "behold, I," emphasizing the immediacy and certainty of the coming judgment.
The thread — The motif of God feeding His people bitter substances appears in Lamentations 3:15, where He fills the speaker with bitterness and intoxicates him with wormwood. The imagery of forced drinking parallels Psalm 80:5, which describes God giving His people the "bread of tears" and a full measure of tears to drink.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that persistent rebellion against divine instruction results in God actively administering the consequences of that rebellion. It requires the reader to accept that judgment is not merely punitive but a direct, measured response to chosen idolatry.
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
Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 8:14 Why are we just sitting here? Gather together, let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there, for the LORD our God has doomed us. He has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.
- Psalms 80:5 You fed them with the bread of tears and made them drink the full measure of their tears.
- Lamentations 3:15 He has filled me with bitterness; He has intoxicated me with wormwood.
- Jeremiah 23:15 Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says concerning the prophets: “I will feed them wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land.”
- Deuteronomy 29:18 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure there is no root among you that bears such poisonous and bitter fruit,
- Psalms 60:3 You have shown Your people hardship; we are staggered from the wine You made us drink.
- Psalms 69:21 They poisoned my food with gall and gave me vinegar to quench my thirst.
- Psalms 75:8 For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the dregs.
- Isaiah 2:17 So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
- Isaiah 2:22 Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?