Bible Strands
Proverbs 1:28
Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — YHWH declares what will occur when the people's dread and destruction arrive like a storm and whirlwind.
The words — אָ֣ז ('az) means "then," and יְ֝שַׁחֲרֻ֗/נְנִי (ye.sha.cha.Ru./ni) literally means "they will earnestly seek me," marking the shift from rejection to desperation.
The thread — The text records a pattern of divine refusal during calamity that runs through Micah 3:4, Isaiah 1:15, and Jeremiah 11:11.
Why it lands — The passage states that God will neither answer nor be found when judgment arrives, and it requires the reader to accept that seeking God after rejecting wisdom is futile.
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
Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
Cross-references
- Micah 3:4 Then they will cry out to the LORD, but He will not answer them. At that time He will hide His face from them because of the evil they have done.
- Isaiah 1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
- Jeremiah 11:11 Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to bring upon them a disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to Me, but I will not listen to them.
- Zechariah 7:13 And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts.
- James 4:3 And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.
- Matthew 25:10 But while they were on their way to buy it, the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut.
- Job 27:9 Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him?
- 1 Samuel 8:18 When that day comes, you will beg for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you on that day.”
- Psalms 18:41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—to the LORD, but He did not answer.
- Jeremiah 14:12 Although they may fast, I will not listen to their cry; although they may offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will finish them off by sword and famine and plague.”