Meaning, commentary and cross references
Jeremiah 29:13
“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”In other translations
KJV · King James Version
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
NIV · New International Version
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
WEB · World English Bible
You shall seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.
What does Jeremiah 29:13 mean?
John Gill · Exposition of the Entire Bible, on Jeremiah 29:13
And ye shall seek me, and find me,.... When persons seek the Lord aright, they always find him; a God hearing prayer; a God in Christ; bestowing favours upon them; granting them his presence; indulging them in communion with him; and favouring them with fresh supplies of his grace, and everything needful for them; every mercy, temporal and spiritual; that is, when they seek him in Christ, who is the only way to the Father, under the guidance and influence of the blessed Spirit; in the exercise of faith upon him and his promises; with fervency of spirit and ardour of mind; with diligence and importunity; with earnest desires and strong affections; and, as follows, with all sincerity of soul…
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
John Calvin · Commentaries, on Jeremiah 29:13
13. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 13. Et quaeretis me, et invenietis, quia quaeretis in toto corde vestro. He confirms in other words the same thing; and yet the repetition, as we said yesterday, is not useless; for as the Jews perversely despised all threatenings, so it was difficult for them to receive any taste of God's goodness from his promises.
John Calvin, Commentaries (Calvin Translation Society English text). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
Context: Jeremiah 29:10–16 (WEB)
10For the LORD says, “After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says the LORD, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future. 12You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13You shall seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you,” says the LORD, “and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you,” says the LORD. “I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.” 15Because you have said, “The LORD has raised us up prophets in Babylon,” 16the LORD says concerning the king who sits on David’s throne, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who haven’t gone with you into captivity,
Cross references
- Deuteronomy 4:29–31
But from there you shall seek the LORD your God, and you will find him when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Psalms 119:2
- Matthew 7:7
“Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you.
- Psalms 119:10
- Jeremiah 24:7
I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God; for they will return to me with their whole heart.
- Joel 2:12
“Yet even now,” says the LORD, “turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.”
- Luke 11:9–10
“I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you.
- Psalms 91:15