Jeremiah 31:28 (YLT)

Passage

And it hath been, as I watched over them to pluck up, And to break down, and to throw down, And to destroy, and to afflict; So do I watch over them to build, and to plant, An affirmation of Jehovah.

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 31:26 On this I have awaked, and I behold, and my sleep hath been sweet to me.

Jeremiah 31:27 Lo, days are coming, an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sown the house of Israel, And the house of Judah, With seed of man, and seed of beast.

Jeremiah 31:28 And it hath been, as I watched over them to pluck up, And to break down, and to throw down, And to destroy, and to afflict; So do I watch over them to build, and to plant, An affirmation of Jehovah.

Jeremiah 31:29 In those days they do not say any more: Fathers have eaten unripe fruit, And the sons' teeth are blunted.

Jeremiah 31:30 But--each for his own iniquity doth die, Every man who is eating the unripe fruit, Blunted are his teeth.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hath", "been", "watched", "over", "pluck", "break", "down", and "throw". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hath" and "been", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 27's "Lo days are coming an affirmation of..." into verse 29's "In those days they do not say...", so "hath" and "been" 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 "hath" and "been" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.