Jeremiah 29:16 (DBY)

Passage

yea, thus saith Jehovah concerning the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and concerning all the people that dwell in this city, your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 29:14 and I will be found of you, saith Jehovah. And I will turn your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith Jehovah; and I will bring you again into the place whence I have caused you to be carried away captive.

Jeremiah 29:15 If ye say, Jehovah hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;

Jeremiah 29:16 yea, thus saith Jehovah concerning the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and concerning all the people that dwell in this city, your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;

Jeremiah 29:17 thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I will send against them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like the vile figs, that cannot be eaten for badness.

Jeremiah 29:18 And I will pursue them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will give them over to be driven hither and thither into all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an execration, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I will drive them:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thus", "saith", "jehovah", "concerning", "king", "sitteth", "upon", and "throne". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thus" and "saith", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "If ye say Jehovah hath raised us..." into verse 17's "thus saith Jehovah of hosts Behold I...", so "thus" and "saith" 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 "thus" and "saith" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.