Jeremiah 9:13

King James Version

And the Lord saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The Lord said, “It is because they abandoned my instruction, which I set before them, and did not obey my voice or walk according to it.

Hebrew Names Version
The LORD says, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein,

English Standard Version
And the Lord says: "Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it,

New American Standard Bible
The LORD said, "Because they have abandoned My Law which I put before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it,

New Century Version
The Lord answered, "It is because Judah quit following my teachings that I gave them. They have not obeyed me or done what I told them to do.

Amplified Bible
The LORD said, "Because they have turned away from My law which I set before them, and have not listened to and obeyed My voice nor walked in accordance with it,

World English Bible
Yahweh says, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein,

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the Lorde sayeth, Because they haue forsaken my Lawe, which I set before them, and haue not obeyed my voice, neither walked thereafter,

Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh said, "Because they have forsaken My law, which I set before them, and have not listened to My voice nor walked according to it,

Berean Standard Bible
And the LORD answered, "It is because they have forsaken My law that I set before them; they have not walked in it or obeyed My voice.

Contemporary English Version
The Lord said: I destroyed the land because the people disobeyed me and rejected my laws and teachings.

Complete Jewish Bible
but have lived by their own hearts' stubbornness and by the ba‘alim, as their ancestors taught them —

Darby Translation
And Jehovah saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not hearkened unto my voice, nor walked in it,

Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord answered, "It is because the people of Judah stopped following my teachings. I gave them my teachings, but they refused to listen to me. They did not follow my teachings.

George Lamsa Translation
And the LORD says, Because they have forsaken my law which I gave to them and to their fathers, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked according to my warnings;

Good News Translation
The Lord answered, "This has happened because my people have abandoned the teaching that I gave them. They have not obeyed me or done what I told them.

Lexham English Bible
And Yahweh said, "Because of their forsaking my law that I set before them, and they have not obeyed my voice, and have not walked in it,

Literal Translation
And Jehovah says, Because they have forsaken My Law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, and have not walked in it;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yee the LORDE himself tolde the same vnto them, that forsoke his lawe, and kepte not the thynge that he gaue them in commaundement, nether lyued therafter:

American Standard Version
And Jehovah saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein,

Bible in Basic English
And the Lord said, Because they have given up my law which I put before them, giving no attention to my voice and not being guided by it;

JPS Old Testament (1917)
But have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baalim, which their fathers taught them.

King James Version (1611)
And the Lord saith; Because they haue forsaken my law, which I set before them, and haue not obeyed my voyce, neither walked therein;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Yea the Lorde hym selfe tolde the same vnto them that forsoke his lawe, and kept not the thing that he gaue them in commaundement, neither liued thereafter:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the Lord said to me, Because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them, and have not hearkened to my voice;

English Revised Version
And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the Lord seide, For thei forsoken my lawe, which Y yaf to hem, and thei herden not my vois, and thei yeden not therynne;

Update Bible Version
And Yahweh says, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and haven't obeyed my voice, neither walked therein,

Webster's Bible Translation
And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;

New English Translation
The Lord answered, "This has happened because these people have rejected my laws which I gave them. They have not obeyed me or followed those laws.

New King James Version
And the LORD said, "Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it,

New Living Translation
The Lord replies, "This has happened because my people have abandoned my instructions; they have refused to obey what I said.

New Life Bible
And the Lord said, "They have turned away from My Law that I have given them. They have not obeyed My voice and would not be led by it.

New Revised Standard
And the Lord says: Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, or walked in accordance with it,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said Yahweh, - Because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them, - And have not hearkened to hay voice neither walked therein;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Lord said: Because they have forsaken my law, which I gave them, and have not heard my voice, and have not walked in it.

Revised Standard Version
And the LORD says: "Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, or walked in accord with it,

Young's Literal Translation
And Jehovah saith: Because of their forsaking My law that I set before them, And they have not hearkened to My voice nor walked in it,

THE MESSAGE
God 's answer: "Because they abandoned my plain teaching. They wouldn't listen to anything I said, refused to live the way I told them to. Instead they lived any way they wanted and took up with the Baal gods, who they thought would give them what they wanted—following the example of their parents." And this is the consequence. God -of-the-Angel-Armies says so: "I'll feed them with pig slop. "I'll give them poison to drink.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The LORD said, "Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it,

Contextual Overview

¹² Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through? ¹³ And the Lord saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein; ¹⁴ But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them: ¹⁵ Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. ¹⁶ I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them. ¹⁷ Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come: ¹⁸ And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters. ¹⁹ For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out. ²⁰ Yet hear the word of the Lord , O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation. ²¹ For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Jeremiah 22:9, Deuteronomy 31:16, Deuteronomy 31:17, 2 Chronicles 7:19, Ezra 9:10, Psalms 89:30, Psalms 119:53, Proverbs 28:4, Zephaniah 3:1-6

Reciprocal: Judges 6:10 - ye have Psalms 90:8 - Thou Jeremiah 11:8 - obeyed

Cross-References

Ezekiel 1:28
As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord . And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

Revelation 4:3
And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

Revelation 10:1
And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the Lord saith,.... The Septuagint version adds, "to me"; there being no wise and understanding man, nor prophet b, to take up this affair, and open the cause of it, therefore the Lord undertakes it himself: the question was put to them, but they not answering it, the Lord does it,

because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; in a plain and easy manner, so as to be readily understood; yet this they attended not unto, but forsook it, neglected it, and cast it behind their backs. Kimchi's note on the phrase, "before them", is,

"not in heaven is it, nor beyond the sea is it;''

see Deuteronomy 30:11:

and have not obeyed my voice; in the law, and by the prophets:

neither walked therein: according to it, as the Lord directed; they neither hearkened to the voice of the Lord, nor did as they were instructed by it.

b Vid. T. Nedarim, fol. 81. 1. & Bava Metzia fol. 85. 1, 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The punishment described in general terms in the preceding three verses is now detailed at great length.

Jeremiah 9:10

The habitations i. e - the temporary encampments of the shepherds (see Jeremiah 6:3).

So that none can ... - Or, “They are parched up, with no man to pass through them; neither do they hear the voice of cattle; from the birds of the heaven even to the beasts they “are fled, they are gone.”

Jeremiah 9:11

Dragons - Rather, jackals.

Jeremiah 9:12

For what the land perisheth ... - This is the question proposed for consideration. The prophet calls upon the wise man to explain his question; that question being, Wherefore did the land perish? He follows it by the assertion of a fact: “It is parched like the wilderness with no man to pass through.”

Jeremiah 9:13

The cause of the chastisement about to fall upon Jerusalem, was their desertion of the divine Law.

Jeremiah 9:14

Imagination - Or, as in the margin.

Which their fathers taught them - It was not the sin of one generation that brought upon them chastisement: it was a sin, which had been handed down from father to son.

Jeremiah 9:15

I will feed them ... - Rather, I am feeding them. The present participle used here, followed by three verbs in the future, shows that the judgment has beam, of which the successive stages are given in the next clause.

Wormwood - See Deuteronomy 29:18, note, and for “water of gall,” Jeremiah 8:14, note.

Jeremiah 9:16

This verse is taken from Leviticus 26:33. The fulfillment of what had been so long before appointed as the penalty for the violation of Yahweh’s covenant is one of the most remarkable proofs that prophecy was something more than human foresight.

Till I have consumed them - See Jeremiah 4:27 note. How is this “consuming” consistent with the promise to the contrary there given? Because it is limited by the terms of Jeremiah 9:7. Previously to Nebuchadnezzars destruction of Jerusalem God removed into safety those in whom the nation should revive.

Jeremiah 9:17

The mourning women - Hired to attend at funerals, and by their skilled wailings aid the real mourners in giving vent to their grief. Hence, they are called “cunning,” literally “wise” women, wisdom being constantly used in Scripture for anything in which people are trained.

Jeremiah 9:18

Take up a wailing for us - i. e., for the nation once God’s chosen people, but long spiritually dead.

Jeremiah 9:19

Forsaken - Or, left: forced to abandon the land.

Because our dwellings ... - Rather, “because they have east down our dwellings.” The whole verse is a description of their sufferings. See 2 Kings 25:1-12.

Jeremiah 9:20

The command is addressed to the women because it was more especially their part to express the general feelings of the nation. See 1 Samuel 18:6; 2 Samuel 1:24. The women utter now the death-wail over the perishing nation. They are to teach their daughters and neighbors the “lamentation, i. e., dirge,” because the harvest of death would be so large that the number of trained women would not suffice.

Jeremiah 9:21

Death is come up ... - i. e., death steals silently like a thief upon his victims, and makes such havoc that there are no children left to go “without,” nor young men to frequent the open spaces in the city.

Jeremiah 9:22

The “handful” means the little bundle of grain which the reaper gathers on his arm with three or four strokes of his sickle, and then lays down. Behind the reaper came one whose business it was to gather several of these bundles, and bind them into a sheaf. Thus, death strews the ground with corpses as thickly as these handfuls lie upon the reaped land, but the corpses lie there unheeded.