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Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
Jeremiah 7:26 · King James Version
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.
  • BSB Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil 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 ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:
  • 2 Chr 30:8Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.
  • Jer 19:15Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.
  • Jer 17:23But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.
  • Jer 7:24But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
  • Matt 23:32Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
  • Acts 7:51Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
  • Jer 11:8Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do: but they did them not.
  • Dan 9:6Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
  • Prov 29:1He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
  • Jer 25:3From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
  • Neh 9:16–17But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,
  • Jer 6:17Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
  • Jer 44:16As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.
  • Isa 48:4Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
  • 2 Kgs 17:14Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God.
  • Jer 34:14At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
  • Jer 25:7Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
  • Rom 2:5But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
  • Neh 9:29And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.
  • Jer 26:5To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;
  • Jer 29:19Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD.
  • Matt 21:38But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
  • 2 Chr 33:10And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.

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.