New International Version
Jeremiah 5:21
21Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear:
Jeremiah 5:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not.
- New King James Version (NKJV)‘Hear this now, O foolish people, Without understanding, Who have eyes and see not, And who have ears and hear not:
- New Living Translation (NLT)Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear.
Context of Jeremiah 5:21
19And when the people ask, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?’ you will tell them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own.’ 20“Announce this to the descendants of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah: Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear: 22Should you not fear me?” declares the Lord. “Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it. 23But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts; they have turned aside and gone away.
Read all of Jeremiah 5Jeremiah 5:21 word by word
שִׁמְעוּ־נָ֣א זֹ֔את עַ֥ם סָכָ֖ל וְאֵ֣ין לֵ֑ב עֵינַ֤יִם לָהֶם֙ וְלֹ֣א יִרְא֔וּ אָזְנַ֥יִם לָהֶ֖ם וְלֹ֥א יִשְׁמָֽעוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Jeremiah 5:21
- Jeremiah 5:4I thought, “These are only the poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of the Lord, the requirements of their God.
- Jeremiah 4:22“My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.”
- Jeremiah 8:7Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the Lord.
- Jeremiah 10:8They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols.
- Deuteronomy 29:4But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.
- Deuteronomy 32:6Is this the way you repay the Lord, you foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?
- Psalms 94:8Take notice, you senseless ones among the people; you fools, when will you become wise?
- Isaiah 6:9He said, “Go and tell this people: “ ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
- Isaiah 27:11When its twigs are dry, they are broken off and women come and make fires with them. For this is a people without understanding; so their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
- Isaiah 44:18They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
- Ezekiel 12:1The word of the Lord came to me:
- Matthew 13:13This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
- John 12:40“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.”
- Acts 28:26“ ‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”
- Romans 11:8as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”
- Proverbs 17:16Why should fools have money in hand to buy wisdom, when they are not able to understand it?
Commentaries on Jeremiah 5:21
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20-31Verses 20-31 Against the God (1) of Creation Jeremiah 5:22, and (2) of Providence Jeremiah 5:24, They sin, not merely by apostasy, but by a general immorality extending to all classes Jeremiah 5:25-28. It is in this immorality that their idolatry has its root. Jeremiah 5:22 The sea is the symbol of restless and indomitable energy, chafing against all resistance, and dashing to pieces the works whereby man endeavors to restrain its fury. Yet God has…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 19-31Verses 19-31 Unhumbled hearts are ready to charge God with being unjust in their afflictions. But they may read their sin in their punishment. If men will inquire wherefore the Lord doeth hard things unto them, let them think of their sins. The restless waves obeyed the Divine decree, that they should not pass the sandy shores, which were as much a restraint as lofty mountains; but they burst all restraints of God's law, and were wholly gone into…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20-21in the house of Jacob: In the Old Testament, "Jacob" and "Israel" are often used interchangeably. They can refer to the patriarch or the nation. To be foolish means to act rashly and immorally, ignoring consequences. senseless: This literally means no heart. When "heart" is negative, it means a person or group does not want to do moral acts and rejects intelligent behavior that pleases God. The people's ears and eyes worked (see study note on Jeremiah…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. eyes ... ears, and--Translate, "and yet" (compare De 29:4; Is 6:9). Having powers of perception, they did not use them: still they were responsible for the exercise of them.Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 5:21
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 5
- 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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