Limitless Word
and I have declared it to you today; but you have not obeyed Yahweh your God’s voice in anything for which he has sent me to you.
Jeremiah 42:21 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you.
  • BSB For I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God in all He has sent me to tell you.
  • NKJV And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, or anything which He has sent you by me.
  • NASB So I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the Lord your God in whatever He has sent me to tell you.
  • NLT And today I have told you exactly what he said, but you will not obey the Lord your God any better now than you have in the past.

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

Jeremiah declares God's word to them, yet they have not obeyed in anything. Their refusal to heed seals their guilt.

Overview

Having faithfully delivered the full message, Jeremiah states plainly that the people have not obeyed the LORD's voice. The contrast between their solemn vow and their disobedience is complete. The verse stands as a sobering testimony that hearing God's word without obeying it brings judgment, calling all readers to be doers of the word and not hearers only (James 1:22).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Ezek 2:7You shall speak my words to them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they are most rebellious.
  • Acts 20:26–27Therefore I testify to you today that I am clean from the blood of all men,
  • Zech 7:11–12But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
  • Ezek 3:17“Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word from my mouth, and warn them from me.
  • Deut 29:19and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, “I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart, to destroy the moist with the dry.”
  • Jer 7:24–27But they didn’t listen nor turn their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
  • Acts 20:20how I didn’t shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly and from house to house,
  • Deut 11:26–27Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Jeremiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Jeremiah 42:21YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JeremiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 42:21 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.