Jeremiah 17:18 (YLT)

Passage

Let my pursuers be ashamed, and let not me be ashamed--me! Let them be affrighted, and let not me be affrighted--me! Bring in on them a day of evil, And a second time <FI>with<Fi> destruction destroy them.

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 17:16 And I hastened not from feeding after Thee, And the desperate day I have not desired, Thou--Thou hast known, The produce of my lips, before Thy face it hath been,

Jeremiah 17:17 Be not Thou to me for a terror, My hope <FI>art<Fi> Thou in a day of evil.

Jeremiah 17:18 Let my pursuers be ashamed, and let not me be ashamed--me! Let them be affrighted, and let not me be affrighted--me! Bring in on them a day of evil, And a second time <FI>with<Fi> destruction destroy them.

Jeremiah 17:19 Thus said Jehovah unto me: `Go, and thou hast stood in the gate of the sons of the people, by which kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all gates of Jerusalem,

Jeremiah 17:20 and thou hast said unto them: Hear a word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem, who are coming in by these gates,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "pursuers", "ashamed", "ashamed--me", "affrighted", "affrighted--me", "bring", "evil", and "second". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "pursuers" and "ashamed", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "Be not Thou to me for a..." into verse 19's "Thus said Jehovah unto me Go and...", so "pursuers" and "ashamed" 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 "pursuers" and "ashamed" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.