New Living Translation
Jeremiah 18:15
15But 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.
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
13So this is what the Lord says: “Has anyone ever heard of such a thing, even among the pagan nations? My virgin daughter Israel has done something terrible! 14Does the snow ever disappear from the mountaintops of Lebanon? Do the cold streams flowing from those distant mountains ever run dry? 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. 16Therefore, their land will become desolate, a monument to their stupidity. All who pass by will be astonished and will shake their heads in amazement. 17I will scatter my people before their enemies as the east wind scatters dust. And in all their trouble I will turn my back on them and refuse to notice their distress.”
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“For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me— the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!
- Jeremiah 3:21Voices are heard high on the windswept mountains, the weeping and pleading of Israel’s people. For they have chosen crooked paths and have forgotten the Lord their God.
- Jeremiah 13:25This is your allotment, the portion I have assigned to you,” says the Lord, “for you have forgotten me, putting your trust in false gods.
- Jeremiah 17:13O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who turn away from you will be disgraced. They will be buried in the dust of the earth, for they have abandoned the Lord, the fountain of living water.
- Jeremiah 10:15Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies! On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed.
- Jeremiah 16:19Lord, you are my strength and fortress, my refuge in the day of trouble! Nations from around the world will come to you and say, “Our ancestors left us a foolish heritage, for they worshiped worthless idols.
- Jeremiah 44:15Then all the women present and all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to idols—a great crowd of all the Judeans living in northern Egypt and southern Egypt—answered Jeremiah,
- Isaiah 41:29See, they are all foolish, worthless things. All your idols are as empty as the wind.
- Isaiah 65:7both for their own sins and for those of their ancestors,” says the Lord. “For they also burned incense on the mountains and insulted me on the hills. I will pay them back in full!
- Hosea 2:13I will punish her for all those times when she burned incense to her images of Baal, when she put on her earrings and jewels and went out to look for her lovers but forgot all about me,” says the Lord.
- Hosea 11:2But the more I called to him, the farther he moved from me, offering sacrifices to the images of Baal and burning incense to idols.
- Isaiah 3:12Childish leaders oppress my people, and women rule over them. O my people, your leaders mislead you; they send you down the wrong road.
- Isaiah 9:16For the leaders of the people have misled them. They have led them down the path of destruction.
- Malachi 2:8But you priests have left God’s paths. Your instructions have caused many to stumble into sin. You have corrupted the covenant I made with the Levites,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
- Matthew 15:6In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition.
- Romans 14:21It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer 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
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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