Jeremiah 18:15

Jeremiah 18:15 in other versions

• King James Version (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;
• New International Version (NIV)Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths. They made them walk in byways, on roads not built up.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway,
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Because My people have forgotten Me, They have burned incense to worthless idols. And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk in pathways and not on a highway,

Context of Jeremiah 18:15

13So the Lord says this: ‘Go and ask the people of other nations! Have they ever heard about anything as terrible as this? My people, Israel, should have been pure. But they have done a disgusting thing! 14There is always snow on Lebanon's mountains. Cold streams of water always pour down from those high rocks. Those things never change, but my people have forgotten me. They offer sacrifices to useless idols. Because of that, they live in a wrong way. They have left the good paths that their ancestors knew. Instead, they walk along narrow paths that nobody takes care of. 16So I will cause their land to become a terrible place. People will always see how disgusting my people are. Everybody who goes near there will be very surprised. They will shake their heads and they will insult my people. 17I will send enemies to attack them. They will chase my people away, like an east wind that blows away dust. I will turn away from them when that day of great trouble arrives. I will refuse to help them.’

Jeremiah 18:15 word by word

כִּֽי־שְׁכֵחֻ֥נִי עַמִּ֖י לַשָּׁ֣וְא יְקַטֵּ֑רוּ וַיַּכְשִׁל֤וּם בְּדַרְכֵיהֶם֙ שְׁבִילֵ֣י עוֹלָ֔ם לָלֶ֣כֶת נְתִיב֔וֹת דֶּ֖רֶךְ לֹ֥א סְלוּלָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Because my peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• hath forgottenשָׁכַחshâkach shâkêach · to forgetH7911
• me, they have burned incenseקָטַרqâţar · to offer: offerH6999
• to vanityשָׁוְאshâv' shav · vanity: vainH7723
• and they have caused them to stumbleכָּשַׁלkâshal · to stumbleH3782
• in their waysדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: roadH1870
• the ancientעוֹלָם‛ôlâm ‛ôlâm · forever: antiquityH5769
• pathsשְׁבוּלshâbîyl · pathH7635
• to walkיָלַךְyâlak · to walkH3212
• in pathsנְתִיבָהnâthîyb nethîybâh nethibâh · pathH5410
• not cast upסָלַלsâlal · to buildH5549

Cross-references for Jeremiah 18:15

• Jeremiah 2:13My people have done two evil things: I give them life, like a spring of fresh water, but they have turned away from me. Instead, they have tried to get water for themselves. They have dug holes in the ground to store it. But those holes cannot hold the water. It quickly runs away.
• Jeremiah 3:21‘I can hear a noise on the tops of the hills. Israel's people are weeping. They are calling out for help. Yes, they have turned to bad ways. They have forgotten to serve the Lord their God.
• Jeremiah 13:25That is how I have decided to punish you. It is what you deserve because you have forgotten me. You have trusted in false gods.
• Jeremiah 17:13You are the one that the Israelites hope in. Everyone who turns away from you will be ashamed. They will disappear, as if their names are written in the dust. Lord, you give life to your people, like a spring of fresh water. But they have turned against you.
• Jeremiah 10:15They are useless things that people should laugh at. When the time for their punishment arrives, God will destroy them.
• Jeremiah 16:19Lord, you give me strength. You are the safe place where I can hide. When I am in trouble, I can run to you and be safe. People will come from nations all over the earth, to give you honour. They will say, ‘Our ancestors worshipped false gods. Those gods were useless and they could not help us.
• Jeremiah 44:15A large crowd of Judah's people listened to Jeremiah. They came from the places where they now lived in the north and the south of Egypt. Some men were there who knew that their wives were offering sacrifices to other gods. Those men and their wives said to Jeremiah,
• Isaiah 41:29Look! All the idols are useless. They can do nothing. Their images are as weak as a breath of wind.’
• Isaiah 65:7as punishment for their sins and for the sins of their ancestors. They burned incense to their idols on the mountains, and they insulted me on the hills. So I will punish them completely, as much as they deserve.’
• Hosea 2:13I will punish her because she burned incense to the idols of Baal. I will punish her because she made herself beautiful with jewels when she went to sleep with her lovers. I will punish her because she did those things but she forgot about me. That is what the Lord says.
• Hosea 11:2But the more I spoke to Israel's people, the more they turned away from me. They offered sacrifices to the images of Baal. They burned incense to give honour to their idols.
• Isaiah 3:12Now children are cruel to my people and women rule over them. My people, your leaders lead you in the wrong direction. They cannot show you what is right.
• Isaiah 9:16The leaders of this nation lead them away from what is true. They confuse the people that they are leading.
• Malachi 2:8But you priests do not serve me in the right way. What you teach causes many people to do wrong things. In that way, you have spoiled the covenant that I made with Levi.’ That is what the Lord Almighty says.
• Matthew 15:6Then, you let that person give nothing to his parents. He does not have to help them. This shows that you have not obeyed what God says is right. Instead, you have obeyed your own ideas.
• Romans 14:21It is good not to do anything that might cause another believer to do something wrong. That includes if you eat meat or if you drink wine.

Commentaries on Jeremiah 18:15

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15Because - “For.” Jeremiah returns to, and continues the words of, Jeremiah 18:13. Vanity - A word meaning “falsehood,” which signifies that the worship of idols is not merely useless but injurious. They have caused them to stumble - Judah‘s prophets and priests were they who made her to err Jeremiah 5:31. The idols were of themselves powerless for good or evil. In their ways … - Or, “in their ways, the everlasting paths, to walk in byways, in a road not…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-17Verses 11-17 Sinners call it liberty to live at large; whereas for a man to be a slave to his lusts, is the very worst slavery. They forsook God for idols. When men are parched with heat, and meet with cooling, refreshing streams, they use them. In these things men will not leave a certainty for an uncertainty; but Israel left the ancient paths appointed by the Divine law. They walked not in the highway, in which they might travel safely, but in a way in…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14-15The answer to these two rhetorical questions was “No.” The snow and streams of the mountaintops of Lebanon were always reliable. In contrast, the Lord’s people were not reliable. The ancient highways represented a life of faithfulness to the covenant (Jeremiah 6:16), while the muddy paths symbolized a life of self-serving paganism.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. Because--rather, "And yet"; in defiance of the natural order of things. forgotten me--(Jr 2:32). This implies a previous knowledge of God, whereas He was unknown to the Gentiles; the Jews' forgetting of God, therefore, arose from determined perversity. they have caused ... to stumble--namely the false prophets and idolatrous priests have. ancient paths--(Jr 6:16): the paths which their pious ancestors trod. Not antiquity indiscriminately, but the…Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 18:15

• Backsliders
• Church
• Idolatry
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Vanity

In the dictionaries

• Smite
• Wag
• Ancient
• Atheism
• Byway
• Providence

Commentaries on Jeremiah 18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings