Jeremiah 29:11
in Jeremiah 29For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith Jehovah, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter end.
KJV
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
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This verse in Jeremiah 29
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The moral malady of man is twofold--at one time vain confidence; then, when that is disappointed, despair. So the Jews first laughed at God's threats, confident that they should speedily return; then, when cast down from that confidence, they sank in inconsolable despondency. expected end--literally, "end and expectation," that is, an end, and that such an end as you wish for.
Thoughts of peace - Here God gives them to understand, 1. That his love was moved towards them. 2. That he would perform his good word, his promises often repeated, to them. 3. That for the fulfillment of these they must pray, seek, and search. 4. That he would hearken, and they should find him; provided, 5. They sought him with their whole heart, Jer 29:10-13.
When things are at the worst they will begin to mend; and he will give them to see the glorious perfection of their deliverance; for, as for God, his work is perfect. He that in the beginning finished the heavens and the earth, and all the hosts of both, will finish all the blessings of both to his people. When he begins in ways of mercy he will make an end.
This site's exposition
For this is what the LORD
on Jeremiah 29:10-11
The promise has a date: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you,” the seventy years of 25:11-12. Verse 11 is the letter's best-known line, “For I know the plans I have for you,” and it is given to one generation in exile.
This site's exposition
to give you a future and a hope
The promise is made to exiles facing seventy years. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown say the people swung from false confidence to despair, and this word meets the despair. Wesley notes that the hope rests on the Lord's mercy to the seed of Abraham, apart from any merit of theirs.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
To give - This deliverance will not depend upon your merits, but upon my own mercy, and kind thoughts and purposes I have for the seed of Abraham my servant, and I am resolved in my own thoughts what to do, I intend not the blotting out of the name of Israel from the earth, but to give such an end to their trouble as themselves expect and desire.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
I HAVE already explained to you, while expounding the 24th and 29th chapters of this Prophet, that these words were written by Jeremiah in a letter to the captives in Babylon. A considerable part of the people of Israel were carried away by Nebuchadnezzar into a far country. They were exhorted by the Prophet to build houses, form families and to abide peaceably there till the Lord should lead them back at the end of 70 years.
I HAVE already explained to you, while expounding the 24th and 29th chapters of this Prophet, that these words were written by Jeremiah in a letter to the captives in Babylon. A considerable part of the people of Israel were carried away by Nebuchadnezzar into a far country. They were exhorted by the Prophet to build houses, form families and to abide peaceably there till the Lord should lead them back at the end of 70 years. But at that time there was a general uneasy feeling among the Jews and other subjected nations who did not rest quietly under the iron yoke of Babylon. They were plotting and planning continual rebellions and certain false prophets in Babylon worked with them, stirring up the spirit of revolt among the exiles. Jeremiah, on the other hand, assured them that they had been sent of God into the land of the Chaldeans for good, bade them seek the peace of the city wherein they now dwelt and promised them that, in due time, the Lord would again plant them in their own land. A people in such a position as the Jews in Babylon were in danger in two ways—either to be buoyed up with false hopes and so to fall into foolish expectations, or to fall into despair and have no hope at all—and so become a sullen and degraded race who would be unfit for restoration and unable to play the part which God ordained for them in the history of mankind. The Prophet had the double duty of putting down their false hopes and sustaining their right expectations. He, therefore, plainly warned them against expecting more than God had promised and he awakened them to look for the fulfillment of what He had promised. Read the 10th verse, and note that pleasant expression, "and perform My good word unto you." At the present time, the Church has need of both admonitions! Expectations which are not warranted are being raised in many quarters and are leading to serious delusions.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And you shall call Me and go In My ways. This is an ellipsis.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּי֩ | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אָנֹכִ֨י | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | 359 times |
| יָדַ֜עְתִּי | yada'ti | I know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמַּחֲשָׁבֹ֗ת | hamachashavot | the plans | H4284 → | 56 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֧ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אָנֹכִ֛י | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | 359 times |
| חֹשֵׁ֥ב | choshev | [am] planning | H2803 → | 124 times |
| עֲלֵיכֶ֖ם | ʾaleikhem | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מַחְשְׁב֤וֹת | machshevot | plans of | H4284 → | 56 times |
| שָׁלוֹם֙ | shalom | well-being | H7965 → | 236 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| לְרָעָ֔ה | leraah | for harm | H7451 → | 662 times |
| לָתֵ֥ת | latet | to give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָכֶ֖ם | lakhem | to <the> you | ||
| אַחֲרִ֥ית | ʾacharit | a future | H319 → | 61 times |
| וְתִקְוָֽה׃ | vetikvah | and a hope | H8615 → |
כִּי֩for
kiH3588 →4482 times
אָנֹכִ֨יI
ʾanokhiH595 →359 times
יָדַ֜עְתִּיI know
yada'tiH3045 →945 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַמַּחֲשָׁבֹ֗תthe plans
hamachashavotH4284 →56 times
אֲשֶׁ֧רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אָנֹכִ֛יI
ʾanokhiH595 →359 times
חֹשֵׁ֥ב[am] planning
choshevH2803 →124 times
עֲלֵיכֶ֖םon you
ʾaleikhemH5921 →5755 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מַחְשְׁב֤וֹתplans of
machshevotH4284 →56 times
שָׁלוֹם֙well-being
shalomH7965 →236 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
לְרָעָ֔הfor harm
leraahH7451 →662 times
לָתֵ֥תto give
latetH5414 →2011 times
לָכֶ֖םto <the> you
lakhem
אַחֲרִ֥יתa future
ʾacharitH319 →61 times
וְתִקְוָֽה׃and a hope
vetikvahH8615 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 33:11The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the purposes of His heart to all generations.
it leads to
- Proverbs 19:21
Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 46:10
I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 23:13
But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him? He does what He desires.
- Isaiah 55:8–9
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
- Lamentations 3:37
Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it?
- Proverbs 19:21
Through
Job 23:13But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him? He does what He desires.
it leads to
- Psalms 115:3
Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases.
- Psalms 115:3
Through
Psalms 40:5Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, and the plans You have for us— none can compare to You— if I proclaim and declare them, they are more than I…
it leads to
- Psalms 139:17–18
How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum!
- Exodus 15:11
Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?
- Psalms 139:17–18
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1965: “God's Thoughts Of Peace and Our Expected End” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.