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;
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;
- BSB “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,
- ESV How can you say, ‘I am not unclean, I have not gone after the Baals’? Look at your way in the valley; know what you have done— a restless young camel running here and there,
- 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 quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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 7:31And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.
- Prov 30:12There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
- Ps 50:21These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
- Luke 10:29But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
- Prov 28:13He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
- Rev 3:17–18Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
- 1 Sam 15:13–14And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
- Prov 30:20Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.
- Ezek 23:1–49The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
- Isa 57:5–6Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks?
- Ps 36:2For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.
- Ezek 16:1–63Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
- Jer 9:14But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
- Esth 8:16The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour.
- Gen 3:12–13And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
- Jer 3:2Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
- Rom 3:19Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
- Jer 2:33–35Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.
- 1 Jn 1:8–10If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- Jer 31:22How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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
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