Meet God in Scripture

Meet God in Jeremiah 4:31

“For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wea…”

Jeremiah 4:31 (KJV)

Six ways to encounter God here

A passage is not only to be understood; it is to be lived with. Choose how you want to meet God in Jeremiah 4:31, and Living Bread opens it right there.

Read itSit with the words themselves in The Word.Study itContext, cross-references, and questions in Bible Study.Be still in itLet it quiet you in the Sanctuary.Pray itTurn it into a prayer of your own.Hide it in your heartMemorize it, word by word.Encounter it togetherGather a few people to walk through it.

The passage in its setting

Meeting God in a verse begins with hearing it where it lives, in the flow of Jeremiah 4. Read it slowly, and let the focal verse settle into its own context.

29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.

30 And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

The web of Scripture around it

Where this passage echoes across the Bible, from the cross-reference graph, 14 connected Scriptures. Each one is a door to meet God there too.

  • Lamentations 1:17Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her: the LORD hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should be round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman…
  • Isaiah 1:15And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
  • Jeremiah 13:21What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
  • Micah 7:1Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.
  • Jeremiah 30:6Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
  • Jeremiah 6:2I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.
  • Matthew 21:5Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
  • Jeremiah 6:23They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of …
  • Jeremiah 49:22Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
  • Psalms 120:5Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
  • Jeremiah 18:21Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be …
  • Jeremiah 48:41Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men’s hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
  • Isaiah 13:8And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
  • Jeremiah 45:2Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto thee, O Baruch:

More to meet God in Jeremiah

Jeremiah 29:11Jeremiah 33:3Jeremiah 17:7Jeremiah 1:5Jeremiah 30:21Jeremiah 10:10Jeremiah 31:18Jeremiah 21:12Jeremiah 27:5Jeremiah 16:19Jeremiah 32:17Jeremiah 30:15Jeremiah 50:15Jeremiah 2:13

How it points to Christ

Every Scripture ultimately leads to Jesus. See how the whole Bible points to Him in Christ in all Scripture, then meet Him for yourself.