And you have done more evil than your fathers. See how each of you follows the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying Me.
Parallel translations
- WEB and you have done evil more than your fathers; for, behold, you walk every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, so that you don’t listen to me.
- KJV And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:
- NKJV And you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, each one follows the dictates of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me.
- NASB You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, each one of you is following the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me.
- NLT And you are even worse than your ancestors! You stubbornly follow your own evil desires and refuse to listen to me.
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
Worse than their fathers, this generation follows the stubbornness of their own evil hearts and refuses to listen to God. Their guilt is compounded because they have surpassed even their ancestors in rebellion.
Overview
God charges the present generation with exceeding their fathers' wickedness, driven by hardened, self-willed hearts. The refusal to listen reveals the deep stubbornness that lies behind their sin. This exposes the human heart's bent toward rebellion, which only the new heart promised in the gospel can remedy, granted by the Spirit to all who trust in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Jer 13:10These evil people, who refuse to listen to My words, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who go after other gods to serve and worship them, they will be like this loincloth—of no use at all.
- Jer 7:26Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.
- Jer 9:14Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.”
- Eccl 9:3This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.
- Judg 2:19But when the judge died, the Israelites became even more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods to serve them and bow down to them. They would not give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
- Jer 7:24Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.
- 1 Sam 15:23For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”
- Mark 7:21For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
- Jer 17:9The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
- 2 Tim 3:13while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
- Gen 6:5Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.
- Deut 9:27Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people and the wickedness of their sin.
- Gen 8:21When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.
- Heb 3:12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.
- Eccl 8:12Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.
- Deut 29:19because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.
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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 16:12 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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