Scripture · Old Testament
Jeremiah 9:12
Jeremiah 9:12 is verse 12 of Jeremiah chapter 9, shown here in the Berean Standard Bible.
Berean Standard Bible
Who is the man wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a desert, so no one can pass through it?
King James Version
Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?
World English Bible
Who is wise enough to understand this? Who is he to whom the mouth of Yahweh has spoken, that he may declare it? Why has the land perished and burned up like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?
Read in context
Jeremiah 9:10–14 · Berean Standard Bible
10 I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they have gone away.
11 “And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
12 Who is the man wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a desert, so no one can pass through it?
13 And the LORD answered, “It is because they have forsaken My law, which I set before them; they have not walked in it or obeyed My voice.
14 Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.”
Read all of Jeremiah 9Hebrew words
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Cross-references
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.
Deuteronomy 32:29If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.
Psalms 107:43Let him who is wise pay heed to these things and consider the loving devotion of the LORD.
Hosea 14:9Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in them.
Matthew 24:15So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ described by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand),
Revelation 1:3Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and obey what is written in it, because the time is near.
Jeremiah 5:19And when the people ask, ‘For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ You are to tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’”
Jeremiah 5:20Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah:
Jeremiah 16:10When you tell these people all these things, they will ask you, ‘Why has the LORD pronounced all this great disaster against us? What is our guilt? What is the sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?’
Jeremiah 16:11Then you are to answer them: ‘It is because your fathers have forsaken Me, declares the LORD, and followed other gods, and served and worshiped them. They abandoned Me and did not keep My instruction.
Jeremiah 16:12And you have done more evil than your fathers. See how each of you follows the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying Me.
Jeremiah 16:13So I will cast you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known. There you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’
Jeremiah 22:8And many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?’
Jeremiah 22:9Then people will reply, ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and have worshiped and served other gods.’”
Deuteronomy 29:22Then the generation to come—your sons who follow you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land—will see the plagues of the land and the sicknesses the LORD has inflicted on it.
Deuteronomy 29:23All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger.
Deuteronomy 29:24So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’
Deuteronomy 29:25And the people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 29:26They went and served other gods, and they worshiped gods they had not known—gods that the LORD had not given to them.
Deuteronomy 29:27Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against this land, and He brought upon it every curse written in this book.
Deuteronomy 29:28The LORD uprooted them from their land in His anger, rage, and great wrath, and He cast them into another land, where they are today.’
1 Kings 9:8And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’
1 Kings 9:9And others will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—because of this, the LORD has brought all this disaster upon them.’”
Psalms 107:34and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.
Ezekiel 14:23They will bring you consolation when you see their conduct and actions, and you will know that it was not without cause that I have done all these things within it,’ declares the Lord GOD.”
Ezekiel 22:25The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.
Ezekiel 22:26Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
Ezekiel 22:27Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.
Ezekiel 22:28Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.
Ezekiel 22:29The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.
Ezekiel 22:30I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.
Ezekiel 22:31So I have poured out My indignation upon them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their ways down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”