Jeremiah 18:15
13 Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard things like these? Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing.
14 Does the snow of Lebanon ever leave its rocky slopes? Or do its cool waters flowing from a distance ever run dry?
Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway.
16 They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.
17 I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind. I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their calamity.”
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway.
- KJV
- Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;
- WEB
- For my people have forgotten me. They have burned incense to false gods. They have been made to stumble in their ways in the ancient paths, to walk in byways, in a way not built up,
- ASV
- For my people have forgotten me, they have burned incense to false [gods]; and they have been made to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk in bypaths, in a way not cast up;
- DARBY
- For my people hath forgotten me: they burn incense to vanity; and they have caused them to stumble in their ways, the ancient paths, to walk in by-paths of a way not cast up;
- BLB
- Yet My people have forgotten Me, they have burned incense to a vain [thing]; and they made them stumble in their ways, the paths of old, to walk in sideroads of the way, and not raised up,
- ÅB
- Men mitt folk har glemt meg, det brenner røkelse for de falske guder; og de førte dem til fall på deres veier, de gamle veier, så de gikk på stier, på uryddede veier,
- OTB
- Likevel har Mitt folk glemt Meg; de brenner røkelse til verdiløse avguder, og de har snublet i sine veier, i de gamle stier, for å gå på sideveier, ikke på en hovedvei.
- B1930
- Men mitt folk har glemt mig, det brenner røkelse for de falske guder; og de førte dem til fall på deres veier, de gamle veier, så de gikk på stier, på uryddede veier,
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Jeremiah 6:16
This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths: ‘Where is the good way?’ Then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it!’
Read in contextJeremiah 2:32
Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.
Read in contextIsaiah 57:14
And it will be said, “Build it up, build it up, prepare the way, take every obstacle out of the way of My people.”
Read in contextHosea 11:2
But the more I called Israel, the farther they departed from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to carved images.
Read in contextMalachi 2:8
But you have departed from the way, and your instruction has caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of Hosts.
Read in contextJeremiah 2:13
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns— broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
Read in contextJeremiah 10:15
They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.
Read in contextIsaiah 41:29
See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.
Read in context