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:
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 13:10This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
- Jer 7:26Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
- Jer 9:14But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
- Eccl 9:3This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
- Judg 2:19And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.
- Jer 7:24But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
- 1 Sam 15:23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
- Mark 7:21For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
- Jer 17:9The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
- 2 Tim 3:13But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
- Gen 6:5And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
- Deut 9:27Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin:
- Gen 8:21And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
- Heb 3:12Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
- Eccl 8:12Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:
- Deut 29:19And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:
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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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