God’s Word Translation
Jeremiah 2:5
5This is what the Lord says: What did your ancestors find wrong with me that they went so far away from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.
Jeremiah 2:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
- New International Version (NIV)This is what the Lord says: “What fault did your ancestors find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Thus says the Lord: "What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Thus says the Lord: “What injustice have your fathers found in Me, That they have gone far from Me, Have followed idols, And have become idolaters?
Context of Jeremiah 2:5
3Israel was set apart for the Lord. It was the best part of the harvest. All who devoured it became guilty, and disaster struck them,’ ” declares the Lord. 4Listen to the Lord’s word, descendants of Jacob, all the families in the nation of Israel. This is what the Lord says: What did your ancestors find wrong with me that they went so far away from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. 6They didn’t ask, “Where is the Lord, who brought us from Egypt? He led us through the desert, through a wasteland and its pits, a land of drought and the shadow of death. No one lives there or travels there.” 7I brought them into a fertile land to eat its fruit and its produce. They came and made my land unclean. They made my property disgusting.
Read all of Jeremiah 2Jeremiah 2:5 word by word
כֹּ֣ה׀ אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֗ה מַה־מָּצְא֨וּ אֲבוֹתֵיכֶ֥ם בִּי֙ עָ֔וֶל כִּ֥י רָחֲק֖וּ מֵעָלָ֑י וַיֵּֽלְכ֛וּ אַחֲרֵ֥י הַהֶ֖בֶל וַיֶּהְבָּֽלוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Thus saithאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- What iniquityעָ֫וֶל‛evel ‛âvel ‛avlâh ‛ôlâh ‛ôlâh · injusticeH5766
- have your fathersאָב'âb · fatherH1
- foundמָצָאmâtsâ' · to findH4672
- in me, that they are gone farרָחַקrâchaq · to removeH7368
- from me, and have walkedיָלַךְyâlak · to walkH3212
- afterאַחַר'achar · afterH310
- vanityהֶ֫בֶלhebel hăbêl · vanityH1892
- and are become vainהָבַלhâbal · to become vainH1891
Cross-references for Jeremiah 2:5
- Jeremiah 2:31“Consider the Lord’s word, people of this generation. Haven’t I been a desert, a land of thick darkness, for Israel? Why do my people say that they are free to wander around and no longer come to me?
- Isaiah 5:3Now then, you inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah, judge between me and my vineyard!
- Isaiah 43:22Jacob, you have not prayed to me. Israel, you have grown tired of me.
- Micah 6:2Listen to the Lord’s lawsuit, you mountains. Listen, you strong foundations of the earth. The Lord has filed a lawsuit against his people. He is arguing his case against Israel.
- Jeremiah 12:2You plant them, and they take root. They grow, and they produce fruit. They speak well of you with their lips, but their hearts are far from you.
- Isaiah 29:13The Lord says, “These people worship me with their mouths and honor me with their lips. But their hearts are far from me, and their worship of me is ⌞based on⌟ rules made by humans.
- Ezekiel 11:15“Son of man, the people who live in Jerusalem are talking about your own relatives and about the entire nation of Israel. The people who live in Jerusalem say, ‘They are far away from the Lord. This land has been given to us as our own property.’
- Matthew 15:8‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
- Jeremiah 10:8They are complete idiots. They learn nonsense from wooden idols.
- Jeremiah 14:22The worthless gods of the nations can’t make it rain. By themselves, the skies can’t give showers. But you can, O Lord our God. We have hope in you because you do all these things.
- Deuteronomy 32:21They made him furious because they worshiped foreign gods and angered him because they worshiped worthless idols. So I will use those who are not my people to make them jealous and a nation of godless fools to make them angry.
- 1 Samuel 12:21Don’t turn away to follow other gods. They can’t help or rescue you, because they don’t exist.
- 2 Kings 17:15They rejected his decrees, the promise he made to their ancestors, and the warnings he had given them. They went after worthless idols and became as worthless as the idols. They behaved like the nations around them, although the Lord had commanded them not to do that.
- Jonah 2:8Those who hold on to worthless idols abandon their loyalty ⌞to you⌟.
- Acts 14:15and said, “Men, what are you doing? We’re human beings like you. We’re spreading the Good News to you to turn you away from these worthless gods to the living God. The living God made the sky, the land, the sea, and everything in them.
- Jeremiah 51:17Everyone is stupid and ignorant. Metalsmiths are put to shame by their idols. Their statues are false ⌞gods⌟.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 2:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5What iniquity have your fathers found in me - Have they ever discovered any thing cruel, unjust, oppressive in my laws? Any thing unkind or tyrannical in my government? Why then have they become idolaters?Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5The Israelites worshiped worthless idols, so delusions controlled their lives.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. iniquity--wrong done to them (Is 5:4; Mi 6:3; compare De 32:4). walked after vanity--contrasted with "walkest after me in the wilderness" (Jr 2:2): then I was their guide in the barren desert; now they take idols as their guides. vanity ... vain--An idol is not only vain (impotent and empty), but vanity itself. Its worshippers acquire its character, becoming vain as it is (De 7:26; Psa 115:8). A people's character never rises above that of its gods…Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 2:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 2
- 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries