God’s Word Translation
Jeremiah 18:15
15But my people have forgotten me. They burn incense as an offering to worthless idols, and they stumble along the way, on the ancient path. They go on side roads and not on major highways.
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
13“This is what the Lord says: Ask among the nations if anyone has ever heard anything like this. The people of Israel have done a very horrible thing. 14The rocky slopes of Lebanon are never without snow. The cool mountain streams never dry up. But my people have forgotten me. They burn incense as an offering to worthless idols, and they stumble along the way, on the ancient path. They go on side roads and not on major highways. 16Their land will become desolate and something to be hissed at forever. Everyone who will pass by it will be stunned and shake his head. 17Like the east wind I will scatter them in front of the enemy. On the day of their disaster, I will show them my back, not my face.”
Read all of Jeremiah 18Jeremiah 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 2:13“My people have done two things wrong. They have abandoned me, the fountain of life-giving water. They have also dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that can’t hold water.
- Jeremiah 3:21The sound of crying is heard on the hills. It is the crying and the pleading of the people of Israel. They have become crooked and have forgotten the Lord their God.
- Jeremiah 13:25This is your fate, the destiny I have planned for you,” declares the Lord. “You have forgotten me and trusted false gods.
- Jeremiah 17:13O Lord, the Hope of Israel, all who abandon you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in dust, because they abandon the Lord, the fountain of life-giving water.
- Jeremiah 10:15They are worthless jokes. When they are punished, they disappear.
- Jeremiah 16:19The Lord is my strength and my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. Nations come to you from the most distant parts of the world and say, “Our ancestors have inherited lies, worthless and unprofitable gods.”
- Jeremiah 44:15Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, all the women who were standing there, and all the people who lived at Pathros in Egypt answered Jeremiah. They said,
- Isaiah 41:29All of them are nothing. They can’t do anything. Their statues are nothing but air.”
- Isaiah 65:7I will repay you for your sins and for the sins of your ancestors,” says the Lord. They burnt incense on the mountains and slandered me on the hills, so I will be the first to pay them back in full.
- Hosea 2:13I will punish her for all the times she burned incense as an offering to other gods—the Baals. She put on her rings and jewelry, and she chased after her lovers. She forgot me,” declares the Lord.
- Hosea 11:2The more I called them, the farther they went away. They sacrificed to other gods—the Baals, and they burned incense to idols.
- Isaiah 3:12“Children will oppress my people. Women will rule them. My people, your guides mislead you, and you don’t know which way to go.”
- Isaiah 9:16Those who guide these people lead them astray. Those who are guided by them will be destroyed.
- Malachi 2:8“But you have turned from the ⌞correct⌟ path and caused many to stumble over my teachings. You have corrupted the promise made to Levi,” says the Lord of Armies.
- Matthew 15:6does not have to honor his father. Because of your traditions you have destroyed the authority of God’s word.
- Romans 14:21The right thing to do is to avoid eating meat, drinking wine, or doing anything else that causes another Christian to have doubts.
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
In the dictionaries
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
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