Jeremiah 6:29 kjv
The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.
Jeremiah 6:29 nkjv
The bellows blow fiercely, The lead is consumed by the fire; The smelter refines in vain, For the wicked are not drawn off.
Jeremiah 6:29 niv
The bellows blow fiercely to burn away the lead with fire, but the refining goes on in vain; the wicked are not purged out.
Jeremiah 6:29 esv
The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the refining goes on, for the wicked are not removed.
Jeremiah 6:29 nlt
The bellows fiercely fan the flames
to burn out the corruption.
But it does not purify them,
for the wickedness remains.
Jeremiah 6 29 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Jer 6:29 | O inhabitant of Zion, gird yourself with sackcloth! Lament and wail, for the fire of my anger has gone out. | Jer 4:8 (Lament for destruction); Zeph 1:18 (Judgment fire) |
| Isa 1:25 | I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your tin. | Isa 48:10 (Refining in furnace); Mal 3:3 (Purifying sons of Levi) |
| Ezek 22:18-22 | Son of man, the house of Israel has become to me like dross. They are all of them like bronze and tin and iron and lead in a furnace; they have become dross. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace to blow the fire with it and melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. I will gather you and blow upon you with the fire of my indignation, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it with the insolence of the Lord. | Ezek 24:3-14 (Similitude of boiling pot, further refining); Psalm 11:5 (The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked) |
| Rom 12:1 | I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. | 1 Cor 6:19-20 (Body as temple); Phil 1:20 (Christ magnified in body) |
| 1 Pet 1:6-7 | In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you must be tested through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. | James 1:2-4 (Testing produces endurance); Heb 12:10-11 (God disciplines for our good) |
| Rev 3:18 | I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich, and white garments, that you may be clothed and that the shame of your nakedness may not appear, and eyesalve, that you may buy, that you may be able to see. | Rev 1:5 (Washed by blood of Jesus); Rev 14:4 (Follow the Lamb wherever he goes, redeemed from mankind) |
| Zech 13:9 | And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’" | Mal 3:2-3 (Coming of Messenger of covenant to purify); 1 Pet 4:12 (Fiery trial as though something strange happened) |
| Jer 6:28 | They are all bronze and iron; they all act corruptly, and they are all backsliders. | Jer 7:23-28 (Disobedience to God's command); Micah 1:7 (Idolaters punished) |
| Deut 4:24 | For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. | Heb 12:29 (God is a consuming fire); Isa 30:27 (Name of LORD burning) |
| Psa 105:18 | Whom they hurt with fetters; he came to the iron... | Psa 68:6 (Prisoners set free); Psa 105:22 (God gave Israel wisdom and made them wiser than their enemies, and put them in honour) |
| Acts 7:42 | God then turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: "Did you bring to me slain sheep and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? | Jer 7:22 (Command to obey God's voice); Amos 5:25-26 (Israel's sacrifices in wilderness to idols) |
| Rom 2:5 | But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. | 2 Thess 1:8 (Judgment for disobedience); Rev 6:17 (Great day of wrath) |
| Matt 13:43 | Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who has ears to hear, let him hear. | Dan 12:3 (Wise shall shine); 1 Cor 15:41 (Glory of the sun) |
| Eph 4:22-24 | to put off your old self, which belongs to your former conduct and is corrupted through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. | Col 3:9-10 (Put off old self, put on new self); Gal 3:27 (Baptized into Christ, put on Christ) |
| Titus 2:14 | who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. | 1 Pet 2:9 (Chosen people, royal priesthood); Heb 9:14 (Blood of Christ purify conscience) |
| 1 John 1:9 | If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. | Psa 32:5 (Confess sin); Prov 28:13 (Confesses and forsakes shall have mercy) |
| Phil 2:15 | so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. | Matt 5:16 (Let your light shine); Eph 5:27 (Holy and without blemish) |
| 1 Cor 3:13 | Each one's work will become manifest, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. | 1 Cor 3:15 (If built on, his work will burn, he will suffer loss); Rev 21:8 (Lake of fire) |
| 1 Pet 1:18-19 | knowing that you were redeemed from your useless way of life inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. | 1 Cor 6:20 (Bought with a price); Rev 5:9 (Redeemed by blood) |
Jeremiah 6 verses
Jeremiah 6 29 Meaning
The verse speaks of the severe judgment upon Jerusalem and its people, symbolized by refining and testing their actions and character. God is presented as a refiner, using fire to burn away impurities and expose what is truly valuable. The goal is to find a remnant that is pure, a people whose lives are found to be faithful and worthy.
Jeremiah 6 29 Context
Jeremiah 6:29 comes in the midst of a powerful prophetic oracle of judgment against Jerusalem and Judah. The preceding verses (Jeremiah 6:27-30) continue a vivid, critical portrayal of the people's unfaithfulness. Jeremiah has been tasked with exposing their deep-seated corruption, likening them to base metals that cannot be refined. The entire chapter depicts a nation that has rejected God's warnings and warnings from the prophets, leading to imminent destruction and exile. This verse acts as a summary of God's assessment of their condition and the divine method of dealing with it. The historical context is critical, as Judah is facing the looming threat of the Babylonian invasion, a direct consequence of their persistent disobedience.
Jeremiah 6 29 Word Analysis
Hagdu (gadhadh): Literally "to beat," "to beat oneself." In this context, it means to gird oneself, a preparatory action signifying mourning, repentance, or readiness for action. It evokes a posture of deep sorrow and humiliation.
Sob (suweth): This refers to a state of lamentation or mourning, a cry of distress.
Hawi (hawah): Denotes wailing or moaning, an audible expression of grief.
Borash (biyr): Translates to desolation or ruin, signifying utter destruction.
Sherafeh (sharah): Derived from saraph (to burn), this term denotes a burning rage or burning anger. It speaks of God's fierce indignation.
Lahtotam (latath): From latah (to hide oneself, to be concealed), this root conveys their hide or their covering. However, in some grammatical forms and contexts, it can also imply their essence, their hidden parts, or that which is wrought/made. Here it's connected to their works, implying the "making" or "working" of their deeds.
Shafat (shafat): Means to judge, to investigate, or to scrutinize. It implies a thorough examination.
Bameh (bamah): Literally "in what?" or "for what purpose?" In this construction, it carries the sense of inquiring into the cause or nature of something.
Group Analysis: "gird yourself with sackcloth! Lament and wail" - This imagery points to a communal act of deep repentance and distress in the face of impending judgment. Sackcloth was a coarse material worn to express grief or humility.
Group Analysis: "the fire of my anger has gone out" - This expresses the finality and intensity of God's wrath, which has been provoked by their persistent sin. It's no longer a warning but a decree of execution.
Group Analysis: "he has cast his abominations into the fire" - This highlights the perversion of their worship and religious practices. The "abominations" were their idolatrous practices and the false gods they served. These are now subject to God's fiery judgment.
Group Analysis: "it cannot be further purified; the lead remains" - This is a powerful metaphor from the metallurgy of the time. Metals like silver and gold were refined by heating them, and scum or dross (impurities) would rise to the surface and be skimmed off. "Lead" here represents a core, unyielding impurity that cannot be removed by ordinary refining processes. This signifies that Judah's sin is so deeply ingrained that even severe trials will not bring about genuine repentance for the whole nation; a significant portion remains irredeemably corrupt.
Jeremiah 6 29 Bonus Section
The metaphor of God as a refiner is present throughout Scripture, not only to signify judgment but also transformation and testing. For example, in Zechariah 13:9, God promises to refine His people as silver and test them as gold, with the outcome being their acknowledgment of Him and His acknowledgment of them as His people. Similarly, Malachi 3:2-3 speaks of the Messenger of the covenant coming to purify the sons of Levi. Peter, in 1 Peter 1:6-7, also uses the refining fire analogy, emphasizing that the testing of faith, though it may be painful, is precious because it proves genuine and leads to glory. Jeremiah's use of the "lead" metaphor here emphasizes a specific failure to be purified, a group or a characteristic that resists God's transformative power in judgment, making them irredeemable in that context. This also highlights the theme of a remnant; while many are found irredeemable, the possibility of a purified remnant remains a thread in prophetic literature.
Jeremiah 6 29 Commentary
Jeremiah 6:29 employs the potent metaphor of a refiner's fire to describe God's judgment. Unlike earthly refiners who seek to purify precious metals, God's fire, described as His anger, aims to expose the true, corrupt nature of the people of Judah. Their entire existence, symbolized by "their making" or "their wrought thing," is subjected to this intense scrutiny. The crucial point is the verse’s conclusion: "the lead remains." This signifies a profound and stubborn corruption within the nation that no amount of purification or hardship can eliminate. They are so filled with dross that even in the furnace of divine judgment, they do not become pure. This leads to the rejection of a "wretched people," indicating that their core sinfulness renders them unusable and unworthy. The imagery underscores that while God desires purification and can effect it, not all will be transformed, especially those whose sin is deeply entrenched.