New International Version
Jeremiah 18:15
15Yet 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.
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;
- 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,
- New Living Translation (NLT)But my people are not so reliable, for they have deserted me; they burn incense to worthless idols. They have stumbled off the ancient highways and walk in muddy paths.
Context of Jeremiah 18:15
13Therefore this is what the Lord says: “Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard anything like this? A most horrible thing has been done by Virgin Israel. 14Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes? Do its cool waters from distant sources ever stop flowing? 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. 16Their land will be an object of horror and of lasting scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads. 17Like a wind from the east, I will scatter them before their enemies; I will show them my back and not my face in the day of their disaster.”
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 committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
- Jeremiah 3:21A cry is heard on the barren heights, the weeping and pleading of the people of Israel, because they have perverted their ways and have forgotten the Lord their God.
- Jeremiah 13:25This is your lot, the portion I have decreed for you,” declares the Lord, “because you have forgotten me and trusted in false gods.
- Jeremiah 17:13Lord, you are the hope of Israel; all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water.
- Jeremiah 10:15They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.
- Jeremiah 16:19Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of distress, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, “Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods, worthless idols that did them no good.
- Jeremiah 44:15Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present—a large assembly—and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah,
- Isaiah 41:29See, they are all false! Their deeds amount to nothing; their images are but wind and confusion.
- Isaiah 65:7both your sins and the sins of your ancestors,” says the Lord. “Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains and defied me on the hills, I will measure into their laps the full payment for their former deeds.”
- Hosea 2:13I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot,” declares the Lord.
- Hosea 11:2But the more they were called, the more they went away from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images.
- Isaiah 3:12Youths oppress my people, women rule over them. My people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path.
- Isaiah 9:16Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray.
- Malachi 2:8But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty.
- Matthew 15:6they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
- Romans 14:21It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.
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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