Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.
What does Jeremiah 18:20 mean?
When the prophet called to repentance, instead of obeying the call, the people devised devices against him.
Key themes
Read with
Keep this verse inside Jeremiah 18:20-21 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on Jeremiah 18:20
Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them. Jeremiah had been laboring earnestly to avert the ruin of his country, but the Jews treated him as farmers do some noxious animal which wastes their fields, and for which they dig pitfalls.
Key words
- recompensed
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Shall evil be recompensed for good?.
- good
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Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.
- Remember
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Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.
Context in Jeremiah 18
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Jeremiah 18 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as conflict with kings, priests, and prophets. Jeremiah combines fierce warning, autobiographical anguish, symbolic action, the promise of a new covenant, and the trauma of Jerusalem’s fall. Read this chapter with the wider themes of judgment, tears, and new covenant in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.
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