They are all grievous rebels, going about with slanders; they are brass and iron: they all of them deal corruptly.
Parallel translations
- KJV They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.
- BSB All are hardened rebels, walking around as slanderers. They are bronze and iron; all of them are corrupt.
- NKJV They are all stubborn rebels, walking as slanderers. They are bronze and iron, They are all corrupters;
- NASB All of them are stubbornly rebellious, Going about as a slanderer; They are bronze and iron. They are, all of them, corrupt.
- NLT They are the worst kind of rebel, full of slander. They are as hard as bronze and iron, and they lead others into corruption.
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
The test reveals the people to be stubborn rebels and slanderers, as hard and base as brass and iron. Their corruption is pervasive and unyielding.
Overview
Far from precious metal, the people prove to be common, hardened metal, an image of obstinate rebellion. Slander and corrupt dealing characterize them all. The verdict explains why ordinary correction has failed and judgment has become necessary.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Jer 9:4“Everyone beware of his neighbor, and don’t trust in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will go about with slanders.
- Jer 5:23“But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart; they have revolted and gone.
- Ezek 22:18–22“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me. All of them are brass, tin, iron, and lead in the middle of the furnace. They are the dross of silver.
- Jer 18:18Then they said, “Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”
- Isa 1:4–5Ah sinful nation, a people loaded with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken Yahweh. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They are estranged and backward.
- Jer 6:30Men will call them rejected silver, because Yahweh has rejected them.”
- Rev 19:2for true and righteous are his judgments. For he has judged the great prostitute, who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.”
- Ps 50:20You sit and speak against your brother. You slander your own mother’s son.
- Isa 31:6Return to him from whom you have deeply revolted, children of Israel.
- Jer 20:10For I have heard the defaming of many, “Terror on every side! Denounce, and we will denounce him!” say all my familiar friends, those who watch for my fall. “Perhaps he will be persuaded, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.”
- Rev 11:18The nations were angry, and your wrath came, as did the time for the dead to be judged, and to give your bondservants the prophets, their reward, as well as to the saints, and those who fear your name, to the small and the great; and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 6:28 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.