Verse Lens · Context pointer
Jeremiah 4:28 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 28. 28For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
The prophetic word through Jeremiah supplies a stated reason through “For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black” at Jeremiah 4:28 in “Creation Unravels while Daughter Zion Labors.”
Read It With
- Jeremiah 4:23–31
Read Jeremiah 4:28 with 4:23–31. By itself, “For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black” can be detached from the speaker, addressee, date, imperial horizon, poetic movement, or outcome that gives it force. The complete unit establishes: A vision of land without form, fleeing cities, divine desolation, and a woman gasping in labor renders siege as cosmic undoing.
Why It Needs Context
Keep the line with Jeremiah 4:23–31. The prophetic word through Jeremiah supplies a stated reason through “For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black” at Jeremiah 4:28 in “Creation Unravels while Daughter Zion Labors.” The literary form and this limit govern it: The laboring-woman and sexual-adornment images do not demean women, romanticize birth pain, or blame victims for predatory violence.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Jeremiah 4:23–31 — Creation Unravels while Daughter Zion LaborsSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Jeremiah 4:23–31, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Jeremiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2; fixed commit
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Jer.xml, OSIS 4:23–31
Open the fixed Hebrew Jeremiah file ↗