Jeremiah 17:6 (DBY)

Passage

And he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but he shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited.

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 17:4 And of thyself thou shalt let go thine inheritance which I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in a land that thou knowest not; for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, it shall burn for ever.

Jeremiah 17:5 Thus saith Jehovah: Cursed is the man that confideth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from Jehovah.

Jeremiah 17:6 And he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but he shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited.

Jeremiah 17:7 Blessed is the man that confideth in Jehovah, and whose confidence Jehovah is.

Jeremiah 17:8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out its roots by the stream, and he shall not see when heat cometh, but his leaf shall be green; and in the year of drought he shall not be careful, neither shall he cease to yield fruit.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "like", "heath", "desert", "good", and "cometh". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "like", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "Thus saith Jehovah Cursed is the man..." into verse 7's "Blessed is the man that confideth in...", so "shall" and "like" belong inside that flow. In Jeremiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "shall" and "like" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.