I, the Lord, affirm that ¹  I know how arrogant they are. But their pride is ill-founded. Their boastings will prove to be false. ² 

biblegateway Jer 48:30

"I know his fury," declares the LORD, "But it is futile; His idle boasts have accomplished nothing.

I know his outburst. This is the LORD's declaration. It is empty. His boast is empty.

I know how arrogant they are," declares the LORD, "but it isn’t right. They brag and don’t do what they say.

biblegateway Jer 48:30

I know her insolence but it is futile," declares the LORD, "and her boasts accomplish nothing.

I know his insolence, declares the LORD; his boasts are false, his deeds are false.

bibleoremus Jer 48:30

I myself know his insolence, says the LORD; his boasts are false, his deeds are false.

I know his arrogance, says the LORD; his boasting is false, false are his deeds.

biblegateway Jer 48:30

"I know his wrath," says the LORD, "But it is not right; His lies have made nothing right.

I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but [it shall] not [be] so; his lies shall not so effect [it].

biblegateway Jer 48:30

I, the Lord, affirm that ¹  I know how arrogant they are. But their pride is ill-founded. Their boastings will prove to be false. ² 

¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

² tn The meaning of this verse is somewhat uncertain: Heb “I know, oracle of the Lord,/ his arrogance and [that it is?] not true; // his boastings accomplish that which is not true.” Several of the modern English versions and commentaries redivide the verse and read something like, “I know his insolence…his boastings are false; his deeds are false (NRSV, REB).” However, the word translated “deeds” in the last line is a verb in the third person plural and can only have as its logical grammatical subject the word “boastings.” The adjective כֵּן (ken) + the negative לֹא (lo’) is evidently repeated here and applied to two different subjects “arrogance” and “boasting” to emphasize that Moab’s arrogant boasts will prove “untrue” (Cf. HALOT 459 s.v. II כֵּן 2.c for the meaning “untrue” for both this passage and the parallel one in Isa 16:6). There is some difference of opinion about the identification of the “I” in this verse. Most commentators see it as referring to the prophet. However, F. B. Huey (Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 395) is probably correct in seeing it as referring to the Lord. He points to the fact that the “I” in vv. 33, 35, 38 can only refer to God. The “I know” in v. 30 also clearly has the Lord as its subject. There are other cases in the book of Jeremiah where the Lord expresses his lament over the fate of a people (cf. 14:1-6, 17-18).