When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather, I am going to put an end to them by the sword, famine, and plague.”
Parallel translations
- WEB When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and meal offering, I will not accept them; but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.”
- KJV When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
- BSB Although they may fast, I will not listen to their cry; although they may offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will finish them off by sword and famine and plague.”
- NKJV When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.”
- NLT When they fast, I will pay no attention. When they present their burnt offerings and grain offerings to me, I will not accept them. Instead, I will devour them with war, famine, and disease.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God declares that fasting, burnt offerings, and grain offerings will not move Him to spare a people set on rebellion; He will judge by sword, famine, and plague. Outward religion without true repentance cannot avert judgment.
Overview
The people's religious acts are rejected because their hearts remain unchanged and unrepentant. Throughout Scripture God desires obedience and mercy more than ritual (1 Samuel 15:22; Isaiah 1:11-17). This warns against trusting in religious performance rather than in genuine faith, the very faith fulfilled in Christ, whose once-for-all sacrifice God truly accepts on behalf of all who believe.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Jer 11:11Therefore Yahweh says, ‘Behold, I will bring evil on them, which they shall not be able to escape; and they shall cry to me, but I will not listen to them.
- Ezek 8:18Therefore will I also deal in wrath. My eye won’t spare, neither will I have pity. Though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them.”
- Prov 1:28Then will they call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me;
- Zech 7:13It has come to pass that, as he called, and they refused to listen, so they will call, and I will not listen,” said Yahweh of Armies;
- Mic 3:4Then they will cry to Yahweh, but he will not answer them. Yes, he will hide his face from them at that time, because they made their deeds evil.”
- Jer 6:20To what purpose comes there to me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.”
- Ezek 14:21For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “How much more when I send my four severe judgments on Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil animals, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and animal!
- Jer 16:4“They shall die grievous deaths: they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried; they shall be as dung on the surface of the ground; and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth.”
- Jer 24:10I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, until they be consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.’”
- Prov 28:9He who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
- Prov 21:27The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more, when he brings it with a wicked mind!
- Jer 15:2–3It shall happen, when they tell you, ‘Where shall we go out?’ Then you shall tell them, ‘Yahweh says: “Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity.”’
- Isa 1:11–15“What are the multitude of your sacrifices to me?”, says Yahweh. “I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed animals. I don’t delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of male goats.
- Jer 29:17–18Yahweh of Armies says: “Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that can’t be eaten, they are so bad.
- Jer 21:7–9Afterward,” says Yahweh, “I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, even those who are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. He will strike them with the edge of the sword. He will not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.”’
- Ezek 5:12–17A third part of you will die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed within you. A third part will fall by the sword around you. A third part I will scatter to all the winds, and will draw out a sword after them.
- Isa 58:3‘Why have we fasted,’ say they, ‘and you don’t see? Why have we afflicted our soul, and you don’t notice?’ “Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and oppress all your laborers.
- Jer 7:21–22Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat meat.
- Jer 9:16I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.”
- Prov 15:8The sacrifice made by the wicked is an abomination to Yahweh, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 14:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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