Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
Parallel translations
- WEB Do they provoke me to anger? says Yahweh. “Don’t they provoke themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?”
- BSB But am I the One they are provoking? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves they spite, to their own shame?
- NKJV Do they provoke Me to anger?” says the Lord. “Do they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?”
- NASB Are they provoking Me?” declares the Lord. “Is it not themselves instead, to their own shame?”
- NLT Am I the one they are hurting?” asks the Lord. “Most of all, they hurt themselves, to their own shame.”
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 asks whether they really harm Him by their idolatry, or rather shame and ruin themselves. Sin's deepest damage falls back upon the sinner.
Overview
God's rhetorical question reframes their rebellion: it cannot diminish Him, but it brings confusion and disgrace on themselves. Idolatry is ultimately self-destructive. The verse reveals the mercy embedded even in God's warnings, since He desires to spare them from the ruin their sin invites.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 1 Cor 10:22Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?
- Jer 2:19Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
- Dan 9:7–8O LORD, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
- Job 35:6If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him?
- Jer 9:19For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out.
- Jer 20:11But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
- Ezek 8:17–18Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.
- Isa 45:16They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.
- Deut 32:21–22They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
- Ezra 9:7Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.
- Isa 1:24Therefore saith the LORD, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
- Deut 32:16They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.
- Isa 1:20But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
- Jer 2:17Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?
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 7:19 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.