Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;
Parallel translations
- WEB Then you shall tell them, ‘Because your fathers have forsaken me,’ says Yahweh, ‘and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshiped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;
- BSB Then you are to answer them: ‘It is because your fathers have forsaken Me, declares the LORD, and followed other gods, and served and worshiped them. They abandoned Me and did not keep My instruction.
- NKJV then you shall say to them, ‘Because your fathers have forsaken Me,’ says the Lord; ‘they have walked after other gods and have served them and worshiped them, and have forsaken Me and not kept My law.
- NASB Then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your forefathers have abandoned Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and have followed other gods, and served and worshiped them; but they have abandoned Me and have not kept My Law.
- NLT “Then you will give them the Lord’s reply: ‘It is because your ancestors were unfaithful to me. They worshiped other gods and served them. They abandoned me and did not obey my word.
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
Jeremiah must answer that their fathers forsook the LORD, followed and served other gods, and abandoned His law. The judgment flows from generations of forsaking God for idols.
Overview
God traces the root of judgment to a long history of forsaking Him and worshiping false gods. The repeated charge of forsaking the LORD highlights the covenant unfaithfulness at the heart of their sin. It is a sober reminder that idolatry, ancient or modern, always means abandoning the true God, from whom alone comes the salvation now offered in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ps 106:35–41But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.
- Neh 9:26–29Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.
- Jer 22:9Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.
- Ezek 11:21But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.
- 1 Kgs 9:9And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.
- Jer 8:2And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
- 1 Pet 4:3For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
- Jer 5:7–9How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
- Deut 29:25–26Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:
- Judg 2:12–13And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger.
- Jer 9:14But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
- Judg 10:13–14Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.
- Dan 9:10–12Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
- Jer 2:8The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
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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 16:11 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.