King James Version

Jeremiah 8:14

Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

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Hebrew

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עַלalaboveעַלpreposition — “above”H5921above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsabove, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, [idiom] as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, [idiom] both and, by (reason of), [idiom] had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of,…מָה֙mahhowמָהparticle, interrogative — “how”H4100properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senseshow (long, oft, (-soever)), (no-) thing, what (end, good, purpose, thing), whereby(-fore, -in, -to, -with), (for) why.אֲנַ֣חְנוּanachnvweאֲנַחְנוּpronoun, personal, 1st person, common, plural — “we”H587weourselves, us, we.יֹֽשְׁבִ֔יםyoshevimdwellיָשַׁבverb, qal, participle, absolute — “dwell”, a verb used as a describing wordH3427properly, to sit down (specifically as judge. in ambush, in quiet); by implication, to dwell, to remain; causatively, to settle, to marry(make to) abide(-ing), continue, (cause to, make to) dwell(-ing), ease self, endure, establish, [idiom] fail, habitation, haunt, (make to) inhabit(-ant), make to keep (house), lurking, [idiom] marry(-ing), (bring again to) place, remain, r…הֵֽאָסְפ֗וּheasefvdestroyאָסַףverb, niphal, imperative, 2nd person, masculine, plural — “destroy”, a commandH622to gather for any purpose; hence, to receive, take away, i.e. remove (destroy, leave behind, put up, restore, etc.)assemble, bring, consume, destroy, felch, gather (in, together, up again), [idiom] generally, get (him), lose, put all together, receive, recover (another from leprosy), (be) rereward, [idiom] surely, take (away, into, up), [idiom] utterly…וְנָב֛וֹאvenavoand to comeבּוֹאconjunction, verb, qal, cohortative, 1st person, common, plural — “and to come”, a determination or requestH935to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)abide, apply, attain, [idiom] be, befall, [phrase] besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, [idiom] certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, [idiom] doubtless again, [phrase] eat,…אֶלelamongאֵלpreposition — “among”H413near, with or among; often in general, toabout, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, [idiom] hath, in(-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).עָרֵ֥יarecityעִירnoun, common, feminine, plural, construct — “city”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH5892a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)Ai (from margin), city, court (from margin), town.הַמִּבְצָ֖רhamivtsarthe fencedמִבְצָרdefinite article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “the fenced”, the ordinary formH4013a fortification, castle, or fortified city; figuratively, a defender(de-, most) fenced, fortress, (most) strong (hold).וְנִדְּמָהvenidmahand be cut downדָּמַםconjunction, verb, qal, cohortative, 1st person, common, plural — “and be cut down”, a determination or requestH1826to be dumb; by implication, to be astonished, to stop; also to perishcease, be cut down (off), forbear, hold peace, quiet self, rest, be silent, keep (put to) silence, be (stand) still, tarry, wait.שָּׁ֑םshamthereשָׁםadverb — “there”H8033there (transferring to time) then; often thither, or thencein it, [phrase] thence, there (-in, [phrase] of, [phrase] out), [phrase] thither, [phrase] whither.כִּי֩kiassuredכִּיconjunction — “assured”H3588(by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexedand, + (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-) as, assured(-ly), + but, certainly, doubtless, + else, even, + except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, + nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, + (al-) though, + til…יְהוָ֨הyehvahJehovahיְהֹוָהnoun, proper name — “Jehovah”H3068Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodJehovah, the Lord. Compare H3050 (יָהּ), H3069 (יְהֹוִה).אֱלֹהֵ֤ינוּeloheynvGodאֱלֹהִיםnoun, common, masculine, plural, construct, suffix, pronominal, 1st person, common, plural — “God”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH430gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlativeangels, [idiom] exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), [idiom] (very) great, judges, [idiom] mighty.הֲדִמָּ֨נוּ֙hadimanvbe cut downדָּמַםverb, hiphil, perfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular, suffix, pronominal, 1st person, common, plural — “be cut down”, a completed actionH1826to be dumb; by implication, to be astonished, to stop; also to perishcease, be cut down (off), forbear, hold peace, quiet self, rest, be silent, keep (put to) silence, be (stand) still, tarry, wait.וַיַּשְׁקֵ֣נוּvayashqenvand cause to drinkשָׁקָהconjunction, verb, hiphil, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular, suffix, pronominal, 1st person, common, plural — “and cause to drink”, the next action in the storyH8248to quaff, i.e. (causatively) to irrigate or furnish apotion tocause to (give, give to, let, make to) drink, drown, moisten, water. See H7937 (שָׁכַר), H8354 (שָׁתָה).מֵיmewaterמַיִםnoun, common, masculine, plural, construct — “water”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH4325water; figuratively, juice; by euphemism, urine, semen[phrase] piss, wasting, water(-ing, (-course, -flood, -spring)).רֹ֔אשׁroshpoisonרֹאשׁnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “poison”, the ordinary formH7219a poisonous plant, probably the poppy (from its conspicuous head); generally poison (even of serpents)gall, hemlock, poison, venom.כִּ֥יkiassuredכִּיconjunction — “assured”H3588(by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexedand, + (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-) as, assured(-ly), + but, certainly, doubtless, + else, even, + except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, + nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, + (al-) though, + til…חָטָ֖אנוּchatanvby faultחָטָאverb, qal, perfect, 1st person, common, plural — “by fault”, a completed actionH2398properly, to miss; hence (figuratively and generally) to sin; by inference, to forfeit, lack, expiate, repent, (causatively) lead astray, condemnbear the blame, cleanse, commit (sin), by fault, harm he hath done, loss, miss, (make) offend(-er), offer for sin, purge, purify (self), make reconciliation, (cause, make) sin(-ful, -ness), trespass.לַיהוָֽהlayhvahto Jehovahיְהֹוָהpreposition, noun, proper name — “to Jehovah”H3068Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodJehovah, the Lord. Compare H3050 (יָהּ), H3069 (יְהֹוִה).

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

'Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us be cut off there; for the LORD our God hath cut us off, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us be silent there; for Jehovah our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against Jehovah.

Young’s Literal Translation

Wherefore are we sitting still? Be gathered, and we go in to the fenced cities, And we are silent there, For Jehovah our God hath made us silent, Yea, He causeth us to drink water of gall, For we have sinned against Jehovah.

World English Bible

“Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves! Let’s enter into the fortified cities, and let’s be silent there; for Yahweh our God has put us to silence, and given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against Yahweh.

Darby Translation

Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fenced cities, and let us be silent there: for Jehovah our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against Jehovah.

Douay-Rheims

Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fenced city, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and hath given us water of gall to drink: for we have sinned against the Lord.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the strong cities, and let us be cast out there: for God has cast us out, and made us drink water of gall, because we have sinned before him.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Ἐπὶ τί ἡμεῖς καθήμεθα; συνάχθητε, καὶ εἰσέλθωμεν εἰς τὰς πόλεις τὰς ὀχυρὰς, καὶ ἀποῤῥιφῶμεν ἐκεῖ, ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἀπέῤῥιψεν ἡμᾶς, καὶ ἐπότισεν ἡμᾶς ὕδωρ χολῆς, ὅτι ἡμάρτομεν ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ.