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Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.
Jeremiah 7:26 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB yet they didn’t listen to me, nor did they incline their ear, but made their neck stiff. They did worse than their fathers.
  • KJV Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
  • NKJV Yet they did not obey Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.
  • NASB Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck; they did more evil than their fathers.
  • NLT But my people have not listened to me or even tried to hear. They have been stubborn and sinful—even worse than their ancestors.

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

Yet they would not listen, but stiffened their necks and acted worse than their fathers. Each generation deepened the rebellion rather than learning from the past.

Overview

'Stiffened their neck' is a vivid image of obstinate refusal to submit. Tragically, they grew worse than previous generations instead of repenting. The downward spiral shows how unrepentant sin compounds over time and makes judgment unavoidable.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 24

  • Jer 16:12And you have done more evil than your fathers. See how each of you follows the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying Me.
  • 2 Chr 30:8Now do not stiffen your necks as your fathers did. Submit to the LORD and come to His sanctuary, which He has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that His fierce anger will turn away from you.
  • Jer 19:15“This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and on all the villages around it every disaster I have pronounced against them, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words.’”
  • Jer 17:23Yet they would not listen or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and would not listen or receive My discipline.
  • Jer 7:24Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.
  • Matt 23:32Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.
  • Acts 7:51You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
  • Jer 11:8Yet they would not obey or incline their ears, but each one followed the stubbornness of his evil heart. So I brought on them all the curses of this covenant I had commanded them to follow but they did not keep.”
  • Dan 9:6We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, leaders, and fathers, and to all the people of the land.
  • Prov 29:1A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.
  • Jer 25:3“From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—twenty-three years—the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.
  • Neh 9:16–17But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.
  • Jer 6:17I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen for the sound of the ram’s horn.’ But they answered, ‘We will not listen!’
  • Jer 44:16“As for the word you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you!
  • Isa 48:4For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.
  • 2 Kgs 17:14But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God.
  • Jer 34:14Every seventh year, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must let him go free. But your fathers did not listen or incline their ear.
  • Jer 25:7‘But to your own harm, you have not listened to Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘so you have provoked Me to anger with the works of your hands.’
  • Rom 2:5But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
  • Neh 9:29You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They stubbornly shrugged their shoulders; they stiffened their necks and would not obey.
  • Jer 26:5and if you do not listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have sent you again and again even though you did not listen,
  • Jer 29:19I will do this because they have not listened to My words, declares the LORD, which I sent to them again and again through My servants the prophets. And neither have you exiles listened, declares the LORD.”
  • Matt 21:38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’
  • 2 Chr 33:10And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they did not listen.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

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 7:26YouTube · 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 7:26 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.