“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? Look at your behavior in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. You are a swift young she-camel galloping here and there,
Parallel translations
- WEB “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled. I have not gone after the Baals’? See your way in the valley. Know what you have done. You are a swift dromedary traversing her ways;
- KJV How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;
- NKJV “Howcan you say, ‘I am not polluted, I have not gone after the Baals’? See your way in the valley; Know what you have done: You are a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways,
- NASB “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baals’? Look at your way in the valley! Know what you have done! You are a swift young camel running about senselessly on her ways,
- NLT “You say, ‘That’s not true! I haven’t worshiped the images of Baal!’ But how can you say that? Go and look in any valley in the land! Face the awful sins you have done. You are like a restless female camel desperately searching for a mate.
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
Israel denies its idolatry, but its conduct proves otherwise. Self-deception cannot hide visible sin.
Overview
Yahweh exposes Israel's claim of innocence by pointing to their tracks in the valley, comparing them to a restless young camel running her ways. The people deny following the Baals while their behavior testifies against them. The passage warns against the self-justifying denial that blinds sinners to their own guilt.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Jer 7:31They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind.
- Prov 30:12There is a generation of those who are pure in their own eyes and yet unwashed of their filth.
- Ps 50:21You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.
- Luke 10:29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
- Prov 28:13He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
- Rev 3:17–18You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
- 1 Sam 15:13–14When Samuel reached him, Saul said to him, “May the LORD bless you. I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.”
- Prov 30:20This is the way of an adulteress: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’
- Ezek 23:1–49Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Isa 57:5–6who burn with lust among the oaks, under every luxuriant tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
- Ps 36:2For his eyes are too full of conceit to detect or hate his own sin.
- Ezek 16:1–63Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Jer 9:14Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.”
- Esth 8:16For the Jews it was a time of light and gladness, of joy and honor.
- Gen 3:12–13And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
- Jer 3:2“Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been violated? You sat beside the highways waiting for your lovers, like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
- Rom 3:19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- Jer 2:33–35How skillfully you pursue love! Even the most immoral of women could learn from your ways.
- 1 Jn 1:8–10If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- Jer 31:22How long will you wander, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land—a woman will shelter a man.”
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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 2:23 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.