Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway.
Parallel translations
- WEB For my people have forgotten me. They have burned incense to false gods. They have been made to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk in byways, in a way not built up;
- KJV Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;
- NKJV “Because My people have forgotten Me, They have burned incense to worthless idols. And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk in pathways and not on a highway,
- NASB ‘For My people have forgotten Me, They burn incense to worthless gods. And they have stumbled in their ways, In the ancient roads, To walk on paths, Not on a highway,
- NLT But my people are not so reliable, for they have deserted me; they burn incense to worthless idols. They have stumbled off the ancient highways and walk in muddy paths.
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's people have forgotten him, worshiped idols, and strayed from the ancient paths onto rough byways. Their idolatry has led them astray.
Overview
The heart of Judah's sin is laid bare: forgetting the Lord and burning incense to false gods. Having left the well-built ancient paths of covenant faithfulness, they stumble on uneven detours. The image of forsaking the good old way for worthless idols warns every generation against trading the living God for empty substitutes (Jeremiah 6:16).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 23
- Jer 6:16This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths: ‘Where is the good way?’ Then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it!’
- Jer 2:32Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.
- Isa 57:14And it will be said, “Build it up, build it up, prepare the way, take every obstacle out of the way of My people.”
- Hos 11:2But the more I called Israel, the farther they departed from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to carved images.
- Jer 2:13“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
- Mal 2:8But you have departed from the way, and your instruction has caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Jer 10:15They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.
- Jer 17:13O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away will be written in the dust, for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of living water.
- Isa 41:29See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.
- Hos 2:13I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,” declares the LORD.
- Matt 15:6he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
- Jer 16:19O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of distress, the nations will come to You from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our fathers inherited nothing but lies, worthless idols of no benefit at all.
- Jer 13:25This is your lot, the portion I have measured to you,” declares the LORD, “because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood.
- Jer 3:21A voice is heard on the barren heights, the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy, because they have perverted their ways and forgotten the LORD their God.
- Jer 44:15–19Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women standing by—a great assembly—along with all the people living in the land of Egypt and in Pathros, said to Jeremiah,
- Isa 62:10Go out, go out through the gates; prepare the way for the people! Build it up, build up the highway; clear away the stones; raise a banner for the nations!
- Jer 44:25This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled with your hands your words: ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Go ahead, then, do what you have promised! Keep your vows!
- Rom 14:21It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything to cause your brother to stumble.
- Isa 9:16For those who guide this people mislead them, and those they mislead are swallowed up.
- Jer 19:5They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I never commanded or mentioned, nor did it even enter My mind.
- Isa 3:12Youths oppress My people, and women rule over them. O My people, your guides mislead you; they turn you from your paths.
- Jer 2:19Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.
- Isa 65:7both for your iniquities and for those of your fathers,” says the LORD. “Because they burned incense on the mountains and scorned Me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their former deeds.”
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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 18:15 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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