Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
Parallel translations
- WEB Why then have the people of Jerusalem fallen back by a perpetual backsliding? They cling to deceit, they refuse to return.
- BSB Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.
- NKJV Why has this people slidden back, Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit, They refuse to return.
- NASB “Why has this people, Jerusalem, Turned away in continual apostasy? They hold on to deceit, They refuse to return.
- NLT Then why do these people stay on their self-destructive path? Why do the people of Jerusalem refuse to turn back? They cling tightly to their lies and will not turn around.
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
Jerusalem persists in 'perpetual backsliding,' clinging to deceit and refusing to repent. It shows how hardened and habitual their sin had become.
Overview
Yahweh marvels that the people slide ever backward and will not turn around. Their grip on 'deceit'—false worship and self-deception—keeps them from returning. The language of refusing to return underscores that their plight is moral, not merely circumstantial, and points forward to the need for God Himself to give a new heart, a promise fulfilled in the new covenant.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Jer 9:6Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD.
- Zech 7:11But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
- Jer 5:3O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
- Hos 11:7And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.
- John 5:40And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
- Heb 12:25See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
- 2 Th 2:9–12Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
- Jer 5:27As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
- Isa 44:20He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
- Isa 30:10Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
- Rev 2:25But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
- 1 Th 5:21Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
- Hos 4:16For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
- Isa 1:20But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
- Prov 4:13Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.
- Jer 3:11–14And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
- Jer 2:32Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
- Jer 7:24–26But 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.
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 8:5 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.