Jeremiah 29:20 (GNV)

Passage

Heare ye therefore the word of the Lord all ye of the captiuitie, whome I haue sent from Ierusalem to Babel.

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 29:18 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence: and I will make them a terror to all kingdomes of the earth, and a curse, and astonishment and an hissing, and a reproche among all the nations whither I haue cast them,

Jeremiah 29:19 Because they haue not hearde my words, saith the Lord, which I sent vnto them by my seruantes the Prophetes, rising vp earely, and sending them, but yee woulde not heare, saith the Lord.

Jeremiah 29:20 Heare ye therefore the word of the Lord all ye of the captiuitie, whome I haue sent from Ierusalem to Babel.

Jeremiah 29:21 Thus saith the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, of Ahab the sonne of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the sonne of Maaseiah, which prophecie lyes vnto you in my Name, Beholde, I will deliuer them into the hande of Nebuchad-nezzar King of Babel, and he shall slay them before your eyes.

Jeremiah 29:22 And al they of the captiuitie of Iudah, that are in Babel, shall take vp this curse against them, and say, The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whome the King of Babel burnt in the fire,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "heare", "therefore", "word", "lord", "captiuitie", "whome", "haue", and "sent". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "heare" and "therefore", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "Because they haue not hearde my words..." into verse 21's "Thus saith the Lord of hostes the...", so "heare" and "therefore" 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 "heare" and "therefore" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.