Jeremiah 12:3

Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

But you, LORD, know me; you see me and test my heart toward you. Drag them off like sheep for slaughter and set them apart for the day of killing.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְאַתָּ֤ה יְהוָה֙ יְדַעְתָּ֔נִי תִּרְאֵ֕נִי וּבָחַנְתָּ֥ לִבִּ֖י אִתָּ֑ךְ הַתִּקֵם֙ כְּצֹ֣אן לְטִבְחָ֔ה וְהַקְדִּשֵׁ֖ם לְי֥וֹם הֲרֵגָֽה׃ ס

Transliteration

wə-you YHWH yədaʿtanî you-tirʾēnî û-bāḥantā libbî with-you, hattiqēm like-ṣōʾn for-ṭibḥāh wə-haqdišēm for-yôm hărēgāh

Grammar Details

• *wə*: conjunction - and
• *yədaʿtanî*: verb, Qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular with 1st person singular suffix - you know me
• *tirʾēnî*: verb, Qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular with 1st person singular suffix - you see me
• *û*: conjunction - and
• *bāḥantā*: verb, Qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular - you have tested
• *libbî*: noun, masculine singular construct with 1st person singular suffix - my heart
• *hattiqēm*: verb, Hiphil imperative, masculine singular with 3rd person masculine plural suffix - pull/drag them away
• *ṣōʾn*: noun, common - sheep/flock
• *ṭibḥāh*: noun, feminine singular - slaughter
• *haqdišēm*: verb, Hiphil imperative, masculine singular with 3rd person masculine plural suffix - set them apart/consecrate them
• *yôm*: noun, masculine singular construct - day
• *hărēgāh*: noun, feminine singular - killing/slaughter

Word Meanings

• *bāḥantā libbî*: tested my heart/examined my mind
• *hattiqēm*: pull them away/drag them off/set them apart
• *ṭibḥāh*: slaughter/butchering
• *haqdišēm*: set them apart/consecrate them/designate them
• *yôm hărēgāh*: day of slaughter/day of killing

Other Translations

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

• KJV1611 – Modern English

  But You, O LORD, know me; You have seen me and tested my heart toward You. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

• King James Version 1611 (Original)

  But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  But thou, O Jehovah,{H3068} knowest{H3045} me; thou seest{H7200} me, and triest{H974} my heart{H3820} toward thee: pull them out{H5423} like sheep{H6629} for the slaughter,{H2878} and prepare{H6942} them for the day{H3117} of slaughter.{H2028}

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  But thou, O LORD{H3068}, knowest{H3045}{(H8804)} me: thou hast seen{H7200}{(H8799)} me, and tried{H974}{(H8804)} mine heart{H3820} toward thee: pull them out{H5423}{(H8685)} like sheep{H6629} for the slaughter{H2878}, and prepare{H6942}{(H8685)} them for the day{H3117} of slaughter{H2028}.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  But thou LORDE (to whom I am well knowne) thou that hast sene, & proued my herte, take them awaye, like as a flock is caried to the slaughter house, and apoynte them for the daye off slaughtinge.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  But thou, Lord, knowest me: thou hast seene me, and tried mine heart towarde thee: pull them out like sheepe for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  But thou Lorde to whom I am well knowen, thou that hast sene and proued my heart, take them away, like as a flocke is caryed to the slaughter house, & appoynt them for the day of slaughter.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  But you, Yahweh, know me; you see me, and try my heart toward you: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  And Thou, O Jehovah, Thou hast known me, Thou seest me, and hast tried my heart with Thee, Draw them away as sheep to slaughter, And separate them for a day of slaughter.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  But thou, O Jehovah, knowest me; thou seest me, and triest my heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  But thou, O Jehovah, knowest me; thou seest me, and triest my heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  But you, O Lord, have knowledge of me; you see me, searching and testing how my heart is with you: let them be pulled out like sheep to be put to death, make them ready for the day of death.

• World English Bible (2000)

  But you, Yahweh, know me; you see me, and try my heart toward you: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  But you, LORD, know all about me. You watch me and test my devotion to you. Drag these wicked men away like sheep to be slaughtered! Appoint a time when they will be killed!

Referenced Verses

• 2 Kgs 20:3 : 3 saying, "Please, LORD, remember how I have walked before You in truth, wholeheartedly, and have done what is good in Your eyes." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
• Jer 17:18 : 18 May my persecutors be put to shame, but may I not be put to shame. May they be dismayed, but may I not be dismayed. Bring upon them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction.
• Jas 5:5 : 5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and indulged yourselves. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
• Ps 17:3 : 3 You have tested my heart; you have visited me at night. You have refined me and found no evil. I have resolved that my mouth will not transgress.
• Ps 26:1 : 1 Judge me, Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
• Ps 44:21-22 : 21 If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, 22 would God not have discovered this? For He knows the secrets of the heart.
• Ps 139:1-4 : 1 For the director of music. A psalm of David. LORD, You have searched me and You know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue, You, LORD, know it completely.
• Ps 139:23 : 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
• Job 23:10 : 10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
• Jer 50:27 : 27 Slaughter all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come, the time of their punishment.
• Jer 51:4 : 4 The slain will fall in the land of the Chaldeans, those pierced by the sword in her streets.
• John 21:17 : 17 The third time, Jesus asked, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' Peter was hurt that Jesus asked him a third time, 'Do you love me?' He said, 'Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep.'
• 1 John 3:20-21 : 20 For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.
• Jer 18:21-23 : 21 So give their children over to famine; hand them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives become childless and widowed, and let their men die by deadly disease; let their young men be struck down in battle. 22 Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring a raiding party upon them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and hidden snares for my feet. 23 But You, Lord, know all their plans to kill me. Do not forgive their wrongdoing, do not blot out their sin from Your sight. Let them collapse before You; deal with them in the time of Your anger.
• Jer 20:12 : 12 O LORD of Hosts, you who test the righteous and see the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for I have presented my case to you.
• Jer 48:15 : 15 Moab is devastated, and its towns have been destroyed! The best of its young men have gone down to slaughter, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
• Ps 7:9 : 9 The Lord will judge the peoples. Vindicate me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity.
• Ps 11:5 : 5 The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked—those who love violence—he hates with a passion.
• 1 Chr 29:17 : 17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. In the uprightness of my heart, I have freely offered all these things; and now I have seen your people, who are present here, joyfully and willingly give to you.
• Jer 11:19-20 : 19 I was like a gentle lamb being led to the slaughter. I did not realize they had plotted against me, saying, ‘Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will never be remembered again.’ 20 But, LORD of Hosts, who judges righteously and tests the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for I have presented my case to you.