Jeremiah 4:28
in Jeremiah 4Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above will grow dark. I have spoken, I have planned, and I will not relent or turn back.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it.
KJV
For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
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This verse in Jeremiah 4
Commentary
7 notes on this verse(Vers. 27, 28.) For thus says the Lord: The whole earth shall be desolate, but I will not make a complete end. The earth shall mourn and the heavens above shall be sorrowful, because I have spoken ((or thought)). I have planned and will not regret it; I have not turned away from it. The earth is deserted due to the mixture of God's anger and mercy, but there will not be a complete destruction so that those who understand His mercy may exist.
This site's exposition
but I will not finish its destruction
on Jeremiah 4:27-28
Full desolation is announced and limited in the same breath: “but I will not finish its destruction”. The book returns to that limit at 5:10 and 5:18. The earth mourns under a fixed sentence, “I have spoken, I have planned, and I will not relent or turn back”.
This site's exposition
the earth will mourn
Barnes follows the Septuagint's order of the last line, which pairs spoken with relent and planned with turn back. Four verbs close the sentence of judgment. The decree is fixed.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
I have purposed it (it is a consumption decreed, determined) and I will not repent, not change this way, but proceed in it, and will not turn back from it. " They would not repent and turn back from the way of their sins ( ch. ii. 25 ), and therefore God will not repent and turn back from the way of his judgments. [2.] They could not help themselves,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
For this shall the earth mourn,....
"Thou must utterly abandon all sin, and not retain any of the relics of idolatry: Put away thy abominations out of my sight, " that is, out of all places (for every place is under the eye of God), especially out of the temple, the house which he had in a particular manner his eye upon, to see that it was kept clean.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For ... - Because of this doom upon Judah. I have purposed it - The Septuagint arrangement restores the parallelism: For I have spoken, and will not repent, I have purposed, and will not turn back from it.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| זֹאת֙ | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| תֶּאֱבַ֣ל | teeval | it will mourn | H56 → | 39 times |
| הָאָ֔רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְקָדְר֥וּ | vekaderu | and they will be dark | H6937 → | 17 times |
| הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| מִמָּ֑עַל | mimaal | <from> above | H4605 → | 140 times |
| עַ֤ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| דִבַּ֙רְתִּי֙ | dibarti | I have spoken | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| זַמֹּ֔תִי | zamoti | I have resolved | H2161 → | |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נִחַ֖מְתִּי | nichamti | I have repented | H5162 → | 108 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אָשׁ֥וּב | ʾashuv | I will turn back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| מִמֶּֽנָּה׃ | mimenah | from it | H4480 → | 1188 times |
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
זֹאת֙this
zotH2063 →603 times
תֶּאֱבַ֣לit will mourn
teevalH56 →39 times
הָאָ֔רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
וְקָדְר֥וּand they will be dark
vekaderuH6937 →17 times
הַשָּׁמַ֖יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
מִמָּ֑עַל<from> above
mimaalH4605 →140 times
עַ֤לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
דִבַּ֙רְתִּי֙I have spoken
dibartiH1696 →1141 times
זַמֹּ֔תִיI have resolved
zamotiH2161 →
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
נִחַ֖מְתִּיI have repented
nichamtiH5162 →108 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
אָשׁ֥וּבI will turn back
ʾashuvH7725 →1056 times
מִמֶּֽנָּה׃from it
mimenahH4480 →1188 times
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
Numbers 23:19God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 15:29
Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”
- James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- Malachi 3:6
“Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.
- Hebrews 6:18
Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.
- Titus 1:2
in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
- 1 Samuel 15:29
Through
Hosea 4:3Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.
it leads to
- Zephaniah 1:3
“I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and the idols with their wicked worshipers. I will cut off mankind…
- Zephaniah 1:3
Through
Jeremiah 12:4How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said,…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:10
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…
- Psalms 107:34
and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.
- Jeremiah 9:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.