Jeremiah 10, Useless Gods

Jeremiah continues preaching in the temple, probably around 586 BC (Feinberg.) Jeremiah despairs at the onrushing misery, at his people's obstinancy and ignorance and the pain that this brings. 

Feinberg considers the first 16 verses of this chapter as an interlude, a description of God and His attributes, before returning to the coming collapse of Judah.

Jeremiah 10:1-4, Worthless customs, worthless idols

Hear what the LORD says to you, O house of Israel.  This is what the LORD says: 

"Do not learn the ways of the nations 

or be terrified by signs in the sky, 

though the nations are terrified by them. 

For the customs of the peoples are worthless; 

they cut a tree out of the forest, 

and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. 

They adorn it with silver and gold; 

they fasten it with hammer and nails 

so it will not totter. 

Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, 

their idols cannot speak; 

they must be carried because they cannot walk. 

Do not fear them;

 they can do no harm 

nor can they do any good." 

The idols carved out of wood cannot speak or walk, indeed, they can do no good. (And they can do no harm.) 

The word translated "worthless" by the NIV in verse 3 is the Hebrew word hebel (הֶבֶל), which literally means "breath." It is a theme of the book of Ecclesiastes where it is often translated "vanity." 

Jeremiah 10:6-7, No one like our God

No one is like you, O LORD; 

you are great, 

and your name is mighty in power. 

Who should not revere you, 

O King of the nations? 

This is your due. 

Among all the wise men of the nations 

and in all their kingdoms, 

there is no one like you. 

This paragraph is a brief psalm of praise. Jeremiah pauses to praise God and emphasize that He alone is God and He alone is king of all nations. 

Jeremiah 10:8-9, Foolish followers of idols

They are all senseless and foolish; 

they are taught by worthless wooden idols. 

Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish 

and gold from Uphaz. 

What the craftsman and goldsmith have made 

is then dressed in blue and purple-- 

all made by skilled workers. 

But the other nations are foolish, worshiping things built by skilled humans.

Jeremiah 10:10, Earth trembles

But the LORD is the true God; 

he is the living God, the eternal King. 

When he is angry, the earth trembles; 

the nations cannot endure his wrath. 

The Hebrew of the first line simply identifies YHWH with truth (emeth, אֶמֶת.)  Since He is the only God and is the Creator, then He can make the earth tremble.

Jeremiah 10:11, These other gods will perish

"Tell them this: `These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.'"

This verse is, suddenly, in Aramaic, not Hebrew! One explanation suggested for this language change is that Aramaic we the language of the Babylonian empire and this was intended to get the attention of Babylonian readers.

Jeremiah 10:12-13, Who made the earth?

But God made the earth by his power; 

he founded the world by his wisdom 

and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. 

When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; 

he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. 

He sends lightning with the rain 

and brings out the wind from his storehouses. 

The fake gods, who did not make the earth, will decay and perish. But it is God who made the world and who rules the clouds, thunder, lightning and wind.

Jeremiah alternates between frustration with the culture that influences Israel and praise of the Creator who rules the earth.

Jeremiah 10:14-15, Fraudulent goldsmiths

 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; 

every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. 

His images are a fraud; 

they have no breath in them. 

They are worthless, the objects of mockery;

 when their judgment comes, they will perish. 

The skilled goldsmiths should be ashamed of the idols they have made -- they are mere images he has created in his forge -- he created them, they did not create him!

Jeremiah 10:16, Maker of all things

He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, 

for he is the Maker of all things, 

including Israel, the tribe of his inheritance-- 

the LORD Almighty is his name. 

Jeremiah continues to alternate between anger and praise. Here he praises God as the true maker of all things.

Verses 12-16 in this chapter are repeated in Jeremiah 51:15-19. The only differences between those two passages (that I can find) is the insertion of the name Israel in the verse above.

Jeremiah 10:17-18, Time to leave

Gather up your belongings to leave the land, 

you who live under siege.

 For this is what the LORD says: 

"At this time I will hurl out those who live in this land; 

I will bring distress on them 

so that they may be captured." 

An exile is coming, announces Jeremiah. Get ready. Get your belongings together. Prepare to evacuate.

Jeremiah 10:19-21, Injured, destroyed

Woe to me because of my injury! 

My wound is incurable! 

Yet I said to myself, "This is my sickness, 

and I must endure it." 

My tent is destroyed; 

all its ropes are snapped. 

My sons are gone from me 

and are no more; 

no one is left now to pitch my tent 

or to set up my shelter. 

The shepherds are senseless

 and do not inquire of the LORD; 

so they do not prosper 

and all their flock is scattered. 

Jeremiah claims an injury, a sickness. A tent is used as a metaphor for his body and life -- the tent is falling apart, its ropes broken. His sons are gone, the shepherds are useless.

Jeremiah 10:22, Haunt of jackals

Listen! The report is coming-- 

a great commotion from the land of the north!

 It will make the towns of Judah desolate, 

a haunt of jackals. 

The coming invasion is from the north, the Assyrians, moving first through the northern kingdom, to eventually besiege Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 10:23-25, Correct us

I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own;

 it is not for man to direct his steps. 

Correct me, LORD, but only with justice-- 

not in your anger,

 lest you reduce me to nothing. 

 Pour out your wrath on the nations 

that do not acknowledge you, 

on the peoples who do not call on your name. 

For they have devoured Jacob; 

they have devoured him completely 

and destroyed his homeland. 

Jeremiah calls for justice and correction -- correction for himself, justice for the nations. According to Feinberg, the last verse (verse 25, "Pour out your wrath...") is recited during Passover, a reminder that a day is coming when those nations that persecuted Israel will themselves be devoured.

Some Hebrew Vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is hebel

הֶבֶל

a masculine noun, "breath." It is often a metaphor for things that are fleeting, that quickly disappear. It is a theme of the book of Ecclesiastes where it is often translated "vanity." In verse 3, above, the word is translated "worthless."

Some Random Thoughts

I am fearful of justice for the nations. As C. S. Lewis points out, when we call for justice, we really want it for others -- but we want mercy for ourselves.

First published January 28, 2025; updated December 24, 2025

Jeremiah 9, Weeping, Wailing

Jeremiah is preaching in the temple. Jeremiah despairs at the onrushing misery, at his people's obstinancy and ignorance and the pain that this brings.

Jeremiah 9:1-2, Weep all day

Oh, that my head were a spring of water 

and my eyes a fountain of tears! 

I would weep day and night 

for the slain of my people.

Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, 

so that I might leave my people 

and go away from them; 

for they are all adulterers, 

a crowd of unfaithful people. 

Jeremiah weeps for his people and also wishes he could run away. He does not want to see the coming suffering.

It is from this passage that Jeremiah is called "the weeping prophet." His raw sharing of his pain (as David did in some psalms) is a special characteristic of his prophecies.

Jeremiah 9:3-6, Tongues shoot lies

"They make ready their tongue like a bow, 

to shoot lies; 

it is not by truth that they triumph in the land. 

They go from one sin to another; 

they do not acknowledge me," 

declares the LORD. 

"Beware of your friends; 

do not trust your brothers. 

For every brother is a deceiver,

and every friend a slanderer. 

Friend deceives friend, 

and no one speaks the truth. 

They have taught their tongues to lie;

 they weary themselves with sinning.

You live in the midst of deception; 

in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me," 

declares the LORD. 

The people shoot out lies as if arrows from a bow. Even within families, the people are liars and deceivers. A century before, the prophet Micah had similar accusations about the dishonesty of the people, even within their own families (Micah 7:5-6.)

Jeremiah 9:7-9, Liars to be tested

Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says: 

"See, I will refine and test them, 

for what else can I do because of the sin of my people?

Their tongue is a deadly arrow; 

it speaks with deceit. 

With his mouth each speaks cordially to his neighbor, 

but in his heart he sets a trap for him. 

Should I not punish them for this?" 

declares the LORD. 

"Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?" 

YHWH is aware of the lies and He intends to respond to the lies with justice.  Especially noted is the one who smiles and gives a cordial greeting to a neighbor, while planning betrayal.

Jeremiah 9:10-11, Heap of ruins

I will weep and wail for the mountains 

and take up a lament concerning the desert pastures. 

They are desolate and untraveled, 

and the lowing of cattle is not heard. 

The birds of the air have fled 

and the animals are gone. 

"I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, 

a haunt of jackals; 

and I will lay waste the towns of Judah 

so no one can live there." 

In the coming devastation, the pastures will be empty and Jerusalem the haunto jackals. No one will be living in the ruins of Judean villages.

Jeremiah 9:12-14, Why has this happened

What man is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the LORD and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross? 

The LORD said, "It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law. Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their fathers taught them." 

In a catechetical style (Feinberg), Jeremiah asks questions and answers the. Why does this destruction occur? It is because Israel has turned away from God's law.

Jeremiah 9:15-16, Scattered

Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says:

"See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water. 

I will scatter them among nations 

that neither they nor their fathers have known, 

and I will pursue them with the sword 

until I have destroyed them." 

The people will be scattered among the nations.

Jeremiah 9:17-19, Call for the wailing women

This is what the LORD Almighty says: 

"Consider now! 

Call for the wailing women to come; 

send for the most skillful of them.

 Let them come quickly 

and wail over us till our eyes overflow with tears 

and water streams from our eyelids.

The sound of wailing is heard from Zion: 

`How ruined we are! 

How great is our shame! 

We must leave our land 

because our houses are in ruins.'" 

The professional wailing women are called to wail and cry over Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 9:20-21, Death climbs in

Now, O women, hear the word of the LORD; 

open your ears to the words of his mouth. 

Teach your daughters how to wail;

 teach one another a lament. 

Death has climbed in through our windows 

and has entered our fortresses; 

it has cut off the children from the streets 

and the young men from the public squares. 

Women are to teach their daughters to wail, for there will be many opportunities to perform those cries, as Death approaches and climbs in the fortress and eventually into windows of the homes. There will be many opportunities for funerals.

Jeremiah 9:22, Bodies in the open field

Say, "This is what the LORD declares: 

"`The dead bodies of men will lie like refuse on the open field,

 like cut grain behind the reaper, 

with no one to gather them.'" 

The bodies of soldiers will lie unburied in the open fields. Death, the being who climbed in windows in previous verses, is portrayed here as reaping bodies. In the New Testament, the image of reaping souls appears in Revelarion 14:14-16 (where Jesus is the reaper) and in Revelation 6:8 where Death rides a pale horse at the end of the age. The image of a supernatural being, Death, as the Grim Reaper, has since come down to us from medieval times.

Jeremiah 9:23-24, Boast in the knowledge of YHWH

This is what the LORD says: 

"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom 

or the strong man boast of his strength 

or the rich man boast of his riches, 

but let him who boasts boast about this: 

that he understands and knows me, 

that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, 

justice and righteousness on earth, 

for in these I delight," 

declares the LORD. 

Jeremiah then inserts a proverb on Wisdom and the importance of the knowledge of God. If one boasts, it should be that he understand YHWH and His views on justice and righteousness.

Jeremiah 9:25-26, Circumcised only in the flesh

"The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh-- Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the desert in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart." 

It is not enough to be physically circumcised. It is the heart that matters and Israel's heart is "uncircumcised." The image of circumcised/uncircumcised hearts dates back to the Exodus (eg. Deuteronomy 10:16.) Kidner (p. 56) says of this passage, "Externalism, the great snare of the good churchman in every age, has seldom been more cuttingly attacked."

Some Hebrew Vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is maveth

מָוֶת

a masculine noun, meaning death.

Some Random Thoughts

Part of verse 8 reads "With his mouth each speaks cordially to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him." I grew up in Texas, moved to the Midwest and then returned to Texas. In my experience, the southern US has an emphasis on external niceties (for example, everyone is to say "Sir" or "Ma'am") while the Midwest does not have this emphasis. As a teenager moving to Illinois, I discovered that saying "Yes, ma'am" to a teacher might be viewed as sarcasm or snark. These are cultural differences, with various advantages or disadvantages. Later, in Texas, I discovered that a senior colleague was plotting behind my back at work, working with others to betray me. One day this colleague called to apologize. He apologized not for his deceit but for the fact that he had failed to say "hello" when he passed me in the parking lot.

All cultures have various ways for people to lie and betray others, while maintaining an appearance of righteousness.

First published January 30, 2025; updated December 28, 2025

Jeremiah 8, I Am Crushed

Jeremiah is preaching in the temple.

Jeremiah 8:1-3, Bones exposed

 "`At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like refuse lying on the ground. 

Wherever I banish them, all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, declares the LORD Almighty.' 

The bones of those who worshiped the sun and stars will be removed from their graves and exposed to this same sun and stars.

The people prefer death to life, says YHWH.

Jeremiah 8:4-6, Cling to deceit

"Say to them, `This is what the LORD says: 

"`When men fall down, do they not get up? 

When a man turns away, does he not return? 

Why then have these people turned away? 

Why does Jerusalem always turn away? 

They cling to deceit; 

they refuse to return.

 I have listened attentively, 

but they do not say what is right. 

No one repents of his wickedness, 

saying, "What have I done?" 

Each pursues his own course 

like a horse charging into battle.

The people revel in deceit and stubborn ignorance. There is no self-examination but instead an animalistic, ignorant charge into wickedness.

There is wordplay in verses 4 and 5 (says Feinberg.)  The Hebrew verb shub (שׁוּב), meaning to turn back, restore, repent appears two times at the end of verse 4, in the question translated by the NIV as "When a man turns away, does he not return?" It then appears two more times in the next verse as "turn away." The Hebrew listener is repeatedly being reminded of their refusal to return to YHWH.

Jeremiah 8:7-8, But my people do not know....

Even 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. 

"`How can you say, "We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD," 

when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely? 

The people of Israel, although given the law of God, are still ignorant and unable to follow God. Their ignorance is contrasted with the natural knowledge of wild birds like the stork, dove, swift and thrush.

Feinberg says that verse 8, above, is the first occurrence in the Old Testament of a class of scholars here called "scribes." They seem to appear as a class at the time of the revival during the reign of Josiah (see 2 Chronicles 34:12-13.) The Hebrew word for these men, sopherim, has root meaning "to count." In New Testament times, the sopherim copied the Hebrerw manuscripts and checked for errors by counting the number of letters in each line. 

Jeremiah 8:9-11, Given away

The wise will be put to shame; 

they will be dismayed and trapped. 

Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, 

what kind of wisdom do they have? 

Therefore I will give their wives to other men 

and their fields to new owners. 

From the least to the greatest, 

all are greedy for gain; 

prophets and priests alike, 

all practice deceit. 

They dress the wound of my people

 as though it were not serious. 

"Peace, peace," they say, 

when there is no peace. 

Even those called wise will be put to shame because of their ignorance of God. They are greedy, whether prophets or priests. They view the wounds of the people as requiring only bandaids. (This last verse also occurs in Jeremiah 6:14.)  These greedy leaders will be defeated and even their wives taken from them.

Jeremiah 8:12, Will fall, but not blush

Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? 

No, they have no shame at all; 

they do not even know how to blush. 

So they will fall among the fallen; 

they will be brought down when they are punished, 

says the LORD. 

The people are so brazen they cannot blush in shame. This verse also appears in Jeremiah 6:15.

Jeremiah 8:13, Harvest taken awaty.

"`I will take away their harvest, 

declares the LORD.

 There will be no grapes on the vine. 

There will be no figs on the tree, 

and their leaves will wither. 

What I have given them will be taken from them.'" 

Continuing the idea of verse 10, the people will lose everything. Here their harvests (grapes, figs, etc.) will be taken from them.

Jeremiah 8:14-16, Why stay?

"Why are we sitting here? 

Gather together! 

Let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there! 

For the LORD our God has doomed us to perish 

and given us poisoned water to drink, 

because we have sinned against him. 

We hoped for peace 

but no good has come, 

for a time of healing 

but there was only terror.

The snorting of the enemy's horses is heard from Dan; 

at the neighing of their stallions the whole land trembles. 

They have come to devour the land 

and everything in it, 

the city and all who live there." 

For the people there is no reason to stay -- the snorting of the enemy's horses can be heard in the north, in the northern tribe of Dan.

Jeremiah 8:17, Venemous snakes

"See, I will send venomous snakes among you, 

vipers that cannot be charmed, 

and they will bite you," 

declares the LORD. 

Here the invading army is portrayed as venomous snakes.

Jeremiah 8:18-22, No balm in Gilead

O my Comforter in sorrow, 

my heart is faint within me. 

Listen to the cry of my people

from a land far away: 

"Is the LORD not in Zion? 

Is her King no longer there?" 

"Why have they provoked me to anger 

with their images, 

with their worthless foreign idols?" 

"The harvest is past, 

the summer has ended, 

and we are not saved."

Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;

 I mourn, and horror grips me.

 Is there no balm in Gilead? 

Is there no physician there? 

Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people? 

Jeremiah cries out in pain, aware of the coming devastation. The wonderful time of summer is over. The people are crushed (or they will be soon.) No healing is available, no soothing balm to heal the people.

The balm of Gilead was a healing resin from modern Jordan, spread over a wound to help recovery. But, says Jeremiah, there is no healing salve for this broken people.

Many scholars argue that the first verse or two of chaopter 9 is a continuation of Jeremiah's cry of pain. So I include those verses here.

Jeremiah 9:1-2a, Weep all day

Oh, that my head were a spring of water 

and my eyes a fountain of tears! 

I would weep day and night 

for the slain of my people.

Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, 

so that I might leave my people 

and go away from them; 

Jeremiah weeps and cries out as he sees the coming disaster. He would like to be able to leave the people and not see them suffer ... but he cannot. He will weep with the people.

Some Hebrew Vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is shub, 

 שׁוּב

a verb meaning to turn back, restore, repent. In Hebrew class I memorized the meaning by tying it to the English word shove (as in "shove away"), which sounds like it.

First published January 29, 2025; updated December 27, 2025

Jeremiah 7, Backward, Not Forward

In this chapter Jeremiah gives a sermon at the temple.  This sermon is very similar to the sermon described in Jeremiah 26:1-6, during the time of Jeconiah, around 608 BC. It is possible that these two passages (chapters 7 and 26) describe the same sermon but it is also possible that Jeremiah repeated his message at different times and the two sermons are different events. (Scholars differ.)

Jeremiah 7:1-8, Stand at the gates

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "Stand at the gate of the LORD's house and there proclaim this message: "`Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD. 

This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!"

If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever. 

But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. 

Jeremiah is told to stand at the gates of the temple and confront people as they walk in.  The people seem to believe in a "talismanic power" of the temple (Feinberg), believing that there is safety in merely repeating 

"This is the temple of the LORD, 

the temple of the LORD, 

the temple of the LORD!"

Jeremiah warns them that this does no good. The people are instructed to change their ways -- to care about justice and the poor and to cease following other gods. If they do so, the nation will be saved.

Jeremiah 7:9-11, Den of robbers

"`Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, "We are safe"--safe to do all these detestable things? 

Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD. 

The people are accused of a false religion, of pretending to follow YHWH but instead following Baal and other gods, will engaged in a variety of decadent practices.

Jesus cites this passage when he drives the moneychangers and their flocks from the temple in Matthew 21: 12-13.

Jeremiah 7:12-15, Go to Shiloh

"`Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. While you were doing all these things, declares the LORD, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer.  Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your fathers. I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your brothers, the people of Ephraim.' 

The ancient town of Shiloh was an early location for the wilderness tabernacle and an early capitol of the nation of Israel. (See Joshua 18:1; the location is described in Judges 21:19.) The people are told to go look at the desolation of Shiloh, caused by the people's earlier disobedience.

Note the emphasis on Shiloh as a house "for my Name", yet a house whose actions desecrated that Name. (See the third commandmentm Exodus 20:7.)

Jeremiah 7:16-20, Queen of heaven and other gods

"So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger. 

But am I the one they are provoking? declares the LORD. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?"`Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground, and it will burn and not be quenched. 

The people make sacrifices and celebrations for the Queen of Heaven and other gods. In doing this, they harm themselves and provoke YHWH. In the ancient Near East, the Queen of Heaven was the name given to a number of goddesses, including Asherah, worshiped at times by the Israelites. and Ishtar, who appears in the Gilgamesh epic.

Jeremiah (here and in 11:9-14) is told to not pray for the people.being told the same thing. The judgment is coming and will not be turned back. At this time, faraway in Jerusalem, the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 3:26) is being told the same thing.

Jeremiah 7:21-26, Backward, not forward

"`This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. 

From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their forefathers.' 

The people were told, long ago, during the Exodus, to follow YHWH and so be prosperous. But they have stubbornly refused. In so doing, they are going "backward, not forward", says God. Both Hosea (Hosea 6:6) and David (Psalm 51:16-17) point out that God is not really interested in sacrifices but obedience.

Jeremiah 7:27-29, Truth has perished

"When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer.  Therefore say to them, `This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips. Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath. 

The nation has not obeyed God and has no interest in Truth. And so they should prepare to lament, to cut their hair, for this generation has been abandoned by God.

Jeremiah 7:30-31, Child sacrifices

"`The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the LORD. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it. They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire--something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind. 

Among the detestable things that the Israelites have done is listed child sacrifices, a sad practice of some parts of the ANE culture.

Jeremiah 7:32-34, Valley of Slaughter

So beware, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. Then the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 

I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become desolate. 

Because of the sins of the people, joy will be replaced by slaughter. 

The Valley of Ben Hinnom was also known by a Greek name as Gehenna. Various valleys (or different names for the same valley) occur elsewhere in the prophetic writings. See Joel 3:1-2 for a valley of Jehoshaphat (or Valley of Judgement) and Isaiah 22:1-13 for a Valley of Vision. In Ezekiel 39:11 invaders from Gog are buried in the Valley of Hamon Gog and in Zechariah 14:1-5, a valley is created by God splitting the Mount of Olives.

Some Hebrew Vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is shem,

שֵׁם

a masculine noun, meaning "name". It appears in verses 12 and 14 above, as the people profaned that Name at Shiloh. In my attempts to memorize Hebrew, I noted that the word sounds a bit like "shame" and that, according to the Third Commandment, we are not to shame the Name!

First published January 28, 2025; updated December 26, 2025

Jeremiah 6, A Refiner's Fire Approaches

Jeremiah continues to accuse Judah and Jerusalem of unfaithfulness, warning of impending destruction as an invading army comes from the north.

Jeremiah 6:1-5, Shepherds pitch tents in Zion

"Flee for safety, people of Benjamin! 

Flee from Jerusalem! 

Sound the trumpet in Tekoa! 

Raise the signal over Beth Hakkerem! 

For disaster looms out of the north, 

even terrible destruction. 

I will destroy the Daughter of Zion, 

so beautiful and delicate.

Shepherds with their flocks will come against her; 

they will pitch their tents around her, 

each tending his own portion." 

"Prepare for battle against her! 

Arise, let us attack at noon!

 But, alas, the daylight is fading,

 and the shadows of evening grow long. 

So arise, let us attack at night 

and destroy her fortresses!"

Destruction for Benjamin and Judah comes from the north. Jerusalem, within the territory of Benjamin, is warned first. (Jeremiah is from Benjamin.) The beautiful city of Jerusalem will be destroyed, to the point that the bedouin shepherds will roam the grounds and pitch their tents within her. 

An attack comes. Maybe at noon. Maybe at dusk.

The prophet Amos, from over a century before, was from Tekoa (Amos 1:1.) Tekoa was twelve miles south of Jerusalem (Feinberg.) There is wordplay in the line about Tekoa, for the Hebrew of that name (תְּקוֹעַ) sounds like the verb taqa (תָּקַע), "to sound, blow". One word follows the other, 

ṯ·qō·w·a‘ tiq·‘ū šō-w-p̄ār

with the sophar (שׁוֹפָר, trumpet) third in that rhythmic line. Beth Hakkerem ("House of the vineyard") was probably a high point south of Jerusalem, a place were a signal fire could be lit.

Jeremiah 6:6-8, Violence and destruction

This is what the LORD Almighty says: 

"Cut down the trees 

and build siege ramps against Jerusalem. 

This city must be punished; 

it is filled with oppression. 

As a well pours out its water, 

so she pours out her wickedness. 

Violence and destruction resound in her;

 her sickness and wounds are ever before me. 

Take warning, O Jerusalem, 

or I will turn away from you 

and make your land desolate 

so no one can live in it." 

Jerusalem will be besieged. Violence will come to Jerusalem, unless the people repent and return to God.

Jeremiah 6:9-12, Hand stretched out

This is what the LORD Almighty says: 

"Let them glean the remnant of Israel 

as thoroughly as a vine; 

pass your hand over the branches again, 

like one gathering grapes." 

To whom can I speak and give warning? 

Who will listen to me? 

Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. 

The word of the LORD is offensive to them; 

they find no pleasure in it. 

But I am full of the wrath of the LORD, 

and I cannot hold it in. 

"Pour it out on the children in the street 

and on the young men gathered together; 

both husband and wife will be caught in it, 

and the old, those weighed down with years.

Their houses will be turned over to others, 

together with their fields and their wives, 

when I stretch out my hand 

against those who live in the land," 

declares the LORD. 

The land will be gleaned like the vines, with hands gathering gapes and then passing through the vine to get more grapes. God has warned the people, but they have not listened and so the assault is coming. Still, a remnant is mentioned....

Jeremiah 6:13-15, A deep wound, mistreated

"From the least to the greatest, 

all are greedy for gain; 

prophets and priests alike, 

all practice deceit.

They dress the wound of my people

as though it were not serious. 

`Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace. 

Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? 

No, they have no shame at all; 

they do not even know how to blush. 

So they will fall among the fallen; 

they will be brought down when I punish them,"

says the LORD. 

All are greedy and deceitful. The sin is serious and deep, yet the "wound" of sin is dressed as if it were a mere scratch. The people, says YHWH, do not even know how to blush in shame.

False prophets predict "peace, peace!" although destruction is imminent. The false prophecy (see also Jeremiah 8:11) is echoed by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 13:10) at roughly the same time.

Jeremiah 6:16-17, "We will not listen!"

This is what the LORD says: 

"Stand at the crossroads and look; 

ask for the ancient paths, 

ask where the good way is, 

and walk in it, 

and you will find rest for your souls. 

But you said, `We will not walk in it.' 
I appointed watchmen over you 

and said, `Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' 
But you said, `We will not listen.' 

The people refuse t walk in the ancient ways of Moses. They do not listen to the warnings of the watchmen nor the soundings of the trumpets.

Jeremiah 6:18-20, Displeasing sacrifices

Therefore hear, O nations; 

observe, O witnesses, 

what will happen to them. 

Hear, O earth: 

I am bringing disaster on this people,

 the fruit of their schemes,

 because they have not listened to my words 

and have rejected my law. 

What do I care about incense from Sheba 

or sweet calamus from a distant land? 

Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; 

your sacrifices do not please me." 

The people may brag about their commercial success, importing incense and calamus, but their sacrifices are dishonoring to God and He is not pleased.

Jeremiah 6:21, Obstacles

Therefore this is what the LORD says: 

"I will put obstacles before this people. 

Fathers and sons alike will stumble over them; 

neighbors and friends will perish." 

The people will discover that obstacles have been placed in their paths.

Jeremiah 6:22-24, A great and cruel army

This is what the LORD says:

"Look, an army is coming from the land of the north; 

a great nation is being stirred up from the ends of the earth. 
They are armed with bow and spear; 

they are cruel and show no mercy. 

They sound like the roaring sea 

as they ride on their horses;

 they come like men in battle formation 

to attack you, O Daughter of Zion." 

We have heard reports about them, 

and our hands hang limp. 

Anguish has gripped us, 

pain like that of a woman in labor. 

A great and horrible army approaches, planning to attack Zion. those who hear this respond in anguish and pain.

Jeremiah 6:25-26, Enemy in the fields

Do not go out to the fields 

or walk on the roads, 

for the enemy has a sword, 

and there is terror on every side. 

O my people, put on sackcloth 

and roll in ashes; 

mourn with bitter wailing 

as for an only son, 

for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us. 

The people are warned about venturing too far from their house -- the enemy is in the fields and the woods. The people should be mourning in sackcloth and ashes.

Jeremiah 6:27-30, A tester comes

"I have made you a tester of metals 

and my people the ore, 

that you may observe 

and test their ways. 

They are all hardened rebels, 

going about to slander. 

They are bronze and iron; 

they all act corruptly.

The bellows blow fiercely 

to burn away the lead with fire, 

but the refining goes on in vain; 

the wicked are not purged out.

They are called rejected silver, 

because the LORD has rejected them."

Hardened rebels come, an army that will test the people of Israel. The Assyrian army will be like a refiner's fire, purging the dross. The "silver" of Israel will be rejected. 

There is alliteration in the Hebrew for "hardened rebels":

sā·rê sō·wr·rîm.

First published January 27, 2025; updated December 24, 2025