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

13Therefore, the Lord says, “Ask the people of other nations whether they have heard of anything like this. Israel should have been like a virgin. But she has done something utterly revolting! 14Does the snow ever completely vanish from the rocky slopes of Lebanon? Do the cool waters from those distant mountains ever cease to flow? Yet my people have forgotten me and offered sacrifices to worthless idols! This makes them stumble along in the way they live and leave the old reliable path of their fathers. They have left them to walk in bypaths, in roads that are not smooth and level. 16So their land will become an object of horror. People will forever hiss out their scorn over it. All who pass that way will be filled with horror and will shake their heads in derision. 17I will scatter them before their enemies like dust blowing in front of a burning east wind. I will turn my back on them and not look favorably on them when disaster strikes 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 2:13“Do so because my people have committed a double wrong: they have rejected me, the fountain of life-giving water, and they have dug cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water.”
• Jeremiah 3:21“A noise is heard on the hilltops. It is the sound of the people of Israel crying and pleading to their gods. Indeed they have followed sinful ways; they have forgotten to be true to the Lord their God.
• Jeremiah 13:25This is your fate, the destiny to which I have appointed you, because you have forgotten me and have trusted in false gods.
• Jeremiah 17:13You are the one in whom Israel may find hope. All who leave you will suffer shame. Those who turn away from you will be consigned to the nether world. For they have rejected you, the Lord, the fountain of life.
• Jeremiah 10:15They are worthless, mere objects to be mocked. When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.
• Jeremiah 16:19Then I said, “Lord, you give me strength and protect me. You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble. Nations from all over the earth will come to you and say, ‘Our ancestors had nothing but false gods – worthless idols that could not help them at all.
• Jeremiah 44:15Then all the men who were aware that their wives were sacrificing to other gods, as well as all their wives, answered Jeremiah. There was a great crowd of them representing all the people who lived in northern and southern Egypt. They answered,
• Isaiah 41:29Look, all of them are nothing, their accomplishments are nonexistent; their metal images lack any real substance.
• Isaiah 65:7for your sins and your ancestors’ sins,” says the Lord. “Because they burned incense on the mountains and offended me on the hills, I will punish them in full measure.”
• Hosea 2:13“I will punish her for the festival days when she burned incense to the Baal idols; she adorned herself with earrings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but she forgot me!” says the Lord.
• Hosea 11:2But the more I summoned them, the farther they departed from me. They sacrificed to the Baal idols and burned incense to images.
• Isaiah 3:12Oppressors treat my people cruelly; creditors rule over them. My people’s leaders mislead them; they give you confusing directions.
• Isaiah 9:16The leaders of this nation were misleading people, and the people being led were destroyed.
• Malachi 2:8You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord who rules over all.
• Matthew 15:6he does not need to honor his father.’ You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition.
• Romans 14:21It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

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