Jeremiah 14:17
New International Version
“Speak this word to them: “’Let my eyes overflow with tears night and day without ceasing; for the Virgin Daughter, my people, has suffered a grievous wound, a crushing blow.

New Living Translation
Now, Jeremiah, say this to them: “Night and day my eyes overflow with tears. I cannot stop weeping, for my virgin daughter—my precious people— has been struck down and lies mortally wounded.

English Standard Version
“You shall say to them this word: ‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people is shattered with a great wound, with a very grievous blow.

Berean Standard Bible
You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow, a severely grievous wound.

King James Bible
Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.

New King James Version
“Therefore you shall say this word to them: ‘Let my eyes flow with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people Has been broken with a mighty stroke, with a very severe blow.

New American Standard Bible
“You will say this word to them, ‘Let my eyes stream down tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow, With a sorely infected wound.

NASB 1995
“You will say this word to them, ‘Let my eyes flow down with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow, With a sorely infected wound.

NASB 1977
“And you will say this word to them, ‘Let my eyes flow down with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow, With a sorely infected wound.

Legacy Standard Bible
And you will say this word to them, ‘Let my eyes flow down with tears night and day, And let them not cease, For the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered with a mighty shattering, With a sorely sick wound.

Amplified Bible
“Therefore [Jeremiah] you will say this word to them, ‘Let my eyes flow with tears night and day, And let them never cease; For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a great blow, With a very serious and severely infected wound.

Christian Standard Bible
You are to speak this word to them: Let my eyes overflow with tears; day and night may they not stop, for my dearest people have been destroyed by a crushing blow, an extremely severe wound.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
You are to speak this word to them: Let my eyes overflow with tears; day and night may they not stop, for the virgin daughter of my people has been destroyed by a great disaster, an extremely severe wound.

American Standard Version
And thou shalt say this word unto them, Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound.

Contemporary English Version
Jeremiah, go and tell the people how you feel about all this. So I told them: "Tears will flood my eyes both day and night, because my nation suffers from a deadly wound.

English Revised Version
And thou shalt say this word unto them, Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Say this to them: 'My eyes flow with tears day and night without stopping because my dear people will suffer massive destruction. It will be a very serious blow.'"

Good News Translation
The LORD commanded me to tell the people about my sorrow and to say: "May my eyes flow with tears day and night, may I never stop weeping, for my people are deeply wounded and are badly hurt.

International Standard Version
"And deliver this message to them: 'Let tears run down my face, night and day, and don't let them stop, because my virgin daughter—my people— will be broken with a powerful blow, with a severe wound.

Majority Standard Bible
You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow, a severely grievous wound.

NET Bible
"Tell these people this, Jeremiah: 'My eyes overflow with tears day and night without ceasing. For my people, my dear children, have suffered a crushing blow. They have suffered a serious wound.

New Heart English Bible
"You shall say this word to them, 'Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound.

Webster's Bible Translation
Therefore thou shalt say this word to them; Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.

World English Bible
“You shall say this word to them: “‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And you have said this word to them: Tears come down my eyes night and day, "" And they do not cease, "" For [with] a great breach, "" The virgin daughter of my people has been broken, "" A very grievous stroke.

Young's Literal Translation
And thou hast said unto them this word: Tears come down mine eyes night and day, And they do not cease, For, with a great breach, Broken hath been the virgin daughter of my people, A very grievous stroke.

Smith's Literal Translation
And say to them this word: Mine eyes shall bring down tears night and day, and they shall not rest: for the virgin daughter of my people was broken with a great breaking, a very sickly wound.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And thou shalt speak this word to them: Let my eyes shed down tears night and day, and let them not cease, because the virgin daughter of my people is afflicted with a great affliction, with an exceeding grievous evil.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And you shall speak this word to them: Let my eyes shed tears throughout the night and day, and let them not cease. For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed by a great affliction, by a very grievous wound.”

New American Bible
Speak to them this word: Let my eyes stream with tears night and day, without rest, Over the great destruction which overwhelms the virgin daughter of my people, over her incurable wound.

New Revised Standard Version
You shall say to them this word: Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease, for the virgin daughter—my people—is struck down with a crushing blow, with a very grievous wound.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Therefore you shall say this word to them: Let my eyes run down with tears night and day and let them not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has suffered a terrible defeat; she is smitten with a very grievous wound.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And speak to them this statement: “Tears shall run down my eyes by day and by night, and they shall not stop, because in that great ruin, the virgin daughter of my people was broken by a blow and severe pain!”
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And thou shalt say this word unto them: Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, With a very grievous blow.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And thou shalt speak this word to them; Let your eyes shed tears day and night, and let them not cease: for the daughter of my people has been sorely bruised, and her plague is very grievous.
Audio Bible



Context
Drought, Famine, Sword, Pestilence
16And the people to whom they prophesy will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will pour out their own evil upon them. 17You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow, a severely grievous wound. 18If I go out to the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, I see those ravaged by famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land they do not know.’ ”…

Cross References
Lamentations 1:16
For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears. For there is no one nearby to comfort me, no one to revive my soul. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed.

Lamentations 2:11
My eyes fail from weeping; I am churning within. My heart is poured out in grief over the destruction of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.

Isaiah 22:4
Therefore I said, “Turn away from me, let me weep bitterly! Do not try to console me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

Jeremiah 9:1
Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.

Jeremiah 13:17
But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.

Ezekiel 24:16-18
“Son of man, behold, I am about to take away the desire of your eyes with a fatal blow. But you must not mourn or weep or let your tears flow. / Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Put on your turban and strap your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners.” / So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And the next morning I did as I had been commanded.

Luke 19:41-44
As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it / and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes. / For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side. ...

Matthew 23:37
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!

Isaiah 15:5
My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath-shelishiyah. With weeping they ascend the slope of Luhith; they lament their destruction on the road to Horonaim.

Isaiah 16:9
So I weep with Jazer for the vines of Sibmah; I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears. Triumphant shouts have fallen silent over your summer fruit and your harvest.

Joel 1:13-14
Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God. / Consecrate a fast; proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.

Amos 5:16-17
Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: “There will be wailing in all the public squares and cries of ‘Alas! Alas!’ in all the streets. The farmer will be summoned to mourn, and the mourners to wail. / There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,” says the LORD.

Zechariah 12:10
Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

Revelation 18:10-11
In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.” / And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because there is no one left to buy their cargo—

Revelation 18:19
Then they will throw dust on their heads as they weep and mourn and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, where all who had ships on the sea were enriched by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been destroyed.”


Treasury of Scripture

Therefore you shall say this word to them; Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.

let mine.

Jeremiah 8:18,21
When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me…

Jeremiah 9:1
Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

Jeremiah 13:17
But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD'S flock is carried away captive.

for.

Isaiah 37:22
This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.

Lamentations 1:15
The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress.

Lamentations 2:13
What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?

with a very.

Jeremiah 30:14,15
All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased…

Psalm 39:10
Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.

Micah 6:13
Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins.

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Blow Breach Broken Cease Daughter Eyes Great Grievous Night Run Tears Virgin Word Wound
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Blow Breach Broken Cease Daughter Eyes Great Grievous Night Run Tears Virgin Word Wound
Jeremiah 14
1. The grievous famine,
7. causes Jeremiah to pray.
10. The Lord will not be entreated for the people.
13. false prophets are no excuse for them.
17. Jeremiah is moved to complain for them.














You are to speak this word to them
This phrase indicates a direct command from God to the prophet Jeremiah. The Hebrew root for "speak" is "דָּבַר" (dabar), which implies not just verbal communication but a declaration of divine truth. Jeremiah, as a prophet, serves as God's mouthpiece, emphasizing the seriousness and authority of the message. In a historical context, prophets were often tasked with delivering difficult truths to the people, and this command underscores the urgency and importance of the message.

Let my eyes overflow with tears
The imagery of overflowing tears is powerful, symbolizing deep sorrow and lamentation. The Hebrew word for "overflow" is "יָרַד" (yarad), which can also mean to descend or pour down, suggesting an uncontainable grief. This reflects God's compassion and sorrow for His people, illustrating that divine judgment is not devoid of emotion. The tears represent a profound empathy and a call for repentance, urging the people to recognize the gravity of their situation.

day and night without ceasing
This phrase emphasizes the continuous and relentless nature of the lamentation. The Hebrew words "יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה" (yomam valaylah) for "day and night" indicate an unending cycle, suggesting that the sorrow is all-consuming and ever-present. Historically, this reflects the constant state of distress and calamity faced by the people of Judah due to their disobedience. It serves as a reminder of the persistent nature of God's call to repentance and the enduring consequences of sin.

for the virgin daughter of my people
The term "virgin daughter" is a poetic expression used to describe the nation of Israel, emphasizing purity, innocence, and the special relationship between God and His people. The Hebrew word "בְּתוּלָה" (betulah) for "virgin" conveys a sense of lost potential and unfulfilled promise due to the nation's waywardness. This phrase highlights the tragedy of Israel's fall from grace and the deep sorrow it brings to God, who desires restoration and redemption for His people.

has been crushed with a mighty blow
The imagery of being "crushed" signifies severe judgment and destruction. The Hebrew root "שָׁבַר" (shabar) means to break or shatter, indicating the complete devastation experienced by the nation. The "mighty blow" reflects the power and inevitability of divine judgment when God's people persist in rebellion. Historically, this can be seen in the Babylonian conquest and exile, a direct consequence of the nation's disobedience and idolatry.

with a sorely infected wound
The phrase "sorely infected wound" conveys the idea of a deep, festering injury that is not healing. The Hebrew word "נַחַלָה" (nachalah) for "infected" suggests a chronic, incurable condition, symbolizing the pervasive sin and corruption within the nation. This imagery serves as a metaphor for the spiritual and moral decay that has led to their downfall. It is a call to recognize the seriousness of their condition and the need for divine intervention and healing.

(17) Thou shalt say this word.--Though not in form a prediction, no words could express more emphatically the terrible nature of the judgments implied in the preceding verse. The language (in part a reproduction of Jeremiah 13:17) is all but identical with that which recurs again and again in the Lamentations (Jeremiah 1:16; Jeremiah 2:11; Jeremiah 2:18), and may be looked upon as the germ of which those elegies of woe were the development.

Verses 17-21. - The prophet's grief, and second intercession. Verse 17. - Therefore thou shalt say, etc. There is something strange and contrary to verisimilitude in the prefixing of this formula, not to a Divine revelation, but to a mere expression of the pained human feelings of the prophet. It is possible that the editor of Jeremiah's prophecies thought the paragraph which begins here needed something to link it with the preceding passage, and selected his formula rather unsuitably. Let mine eyes run down, etc. (comp. Jeremiah 13:27). Jeremiah's tender compassion shows itself in his choice of the expression, the virgin daughter of my people, just as we feel an added bitterness in the premature death of a cherished maiden.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
You are to speak
וְאָמַרְתָּ֤ (wə·’ā·mar·tā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

this
הַזֶּ֔ה (haz·zeh)
Article | Pronoun - masculine singular
Strong's 2088: This, that

word
הַדָּבָ֣ר (had·dā·ḇār)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1697: A word, a matter, thing, a cause

to them:
אֲלֵיהֶם֙ (’ă·lê·hem)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

“My eyes
עֵינַ֥י (‘ê·nay)
Noun - cdc | first person common singular
Strong's 5869: An eye, a fountain

overflow
תֵּרַ֨דְנָה (tê·raḏ·nāh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine plural
Strong's 3381: To come or go down, descend

with tears;
דִּמְעָ֛ה (dim·‘āh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 1832: Tears (of one weeping)

day
וְיוֹמָ֖ם (wə·yō·w·mām)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb
Strong's 3119: Daytime, by day

and night
לַ֥יְלָה (lay·lāh)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3915: A twist, night, adversity

they do not
וְאַל־ (wə·’al-)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb
Strong's 408: Not

cease,
תִּדְמֶ֑ינָה (tiḏ·me·nāh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine plural
Strong's 1820: To be dumb, silent, to fail, perish, trans, to destroy

for
כִּי֩ (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

the virgin
בְּתוּלַת֙ (bə·ṯū·laṯ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 1330: A virgin, sometimes, a bride

daughter
בַּת־ (baṯ-)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 1323: A daughter

of my people
עַמִּ֔י (‘am·mî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 5971: A people, a tribe, troops, attendants, a flock

has been shattered
שֶׁ֨בֶר (še·ḇer)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7665: To break, break in pieces

by a crushing
גָּד֜וֹל (gā·ḏō·wl)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 1419: Great, older, insolent

blow,
נִשְׁבְּרָ֗ה (niš·bə·rāh)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 7667: A breaking, fracture, crushing, breach, crash

a severely
מְאֹֽד׃ (mə·’ōḏ)
Adverb
Strong's 3966: Vehemence, vehemently, wholly, speedily

grievous
נַחְלָ֥ה (naḥ·lāh)
Verb - Nifal - Participle - feminine singular
Strong's 2470: To be weak or sick

wound.
מַכָּ֖ה (mak·kāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4347: A wound, carnage, pestilence


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 14:17 You shall say this word to them (Jer.)
Jeremiah 14:16
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