Lectionary Calendar
Sunday, August 3rd, 2025
the Week of Proper 13 / Ordinary 18
Attention!
Take your personal ministry to the Next Level by helping StudyLight build churches and supporting pastors in Uganda.
Click here to join the effort!

Read the Bible

The NET Bible®

Jeremiah 5:2

These people make promises in the name of the Lord . But the fact is, what they swear to is really a lie."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Backsliders;   Hypocrisy;   Idolatry;   Oath;   Perjury;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Jerusalem;   Oaths;   Sins, National;   Swearing Falsely;  

Dictionaries:

- Holman Bible Dictionary - Life;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Zechariah, Book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Crime;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
When they say, “As the Lord lives,”they are swearing falsely.
Hebrew Names Version
Though they say, As the LORD lives; surely they swear falsely.
King James Version
And though they say, The Lord liveth; surely they swear falsely.
English Standard Version
Though they say, "As the Lord lives," yet they swear falsely.
New American Standard Bible
"And although they say, 'As the LORD lives,' Certainly they swear falsely."
New Century Version
Although the people say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!' they don't really mean it."
Amplified Bible
"And though they say, 'As the LORD lives,' Surely they swear [their oaths] falsely."
World English Bible
Though they say, As Yahweh lives; surely they swear falsely.
Geneva Bible (1587)
For though they say, The Lord liueth, yet doe they sweare falsely.
Legacy Standard Bible
And if they say, ‘As Yahweh lives,'Then they swear to a lie."
Berean Standard Bible
Although they say, "As surely as the LORD lives," they are swearing falsely.
Contemporary English Version
Everyone breaks promises made in my name."
Complete Jewish Bible
And though they say, ‘As Adonai lives,' the fact is that they are swearing falsely."
Darby Translation
And if they say, [As] Jehovah liveth! surely they swear falsely.
Easy-to-Read Version
The people make promises and say, ‘As the Lord lives.' But they don't really mean it!"
George Lamsa Translation
And though they say, The LORD lives; truly they swear falsely.
Good News Translation
Even though you claim to worship the Lord , you do not mean what you say.
Lexham English Bible
And though they say, ‘As Yahweh lives,' therefore they swear falsely."
Literal Translation
And though they say, As Jehovah lives, surely they swear falsely.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For though they can saye: the LORDE lyueth, yet do they sweare to disceaue:
American Standard Version
And though they say, As Jehovah liveth; surely they swear falsely.
Bible in Basic English
And though they say, By the living Lord; truly their oaths are false.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And though they say: 'As the LORD liveth', surely they swear falsely.
King James Version (1611)
And though they say, The Lord liueth, surely they sweare falsely.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For though they can say, the Lorde lyueth: yet they sweare to deceaue.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
The Lord lives, they say; do they not therefore swear falsely?
English Revised Version
And though they say, As the LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
That if also thei seien, The Lord lyueth, yhe, thei schulen swere this falsli.
Update Bible Version
And if they say, As Yahweh lives; surely they swear falsely.
Webster's Bible Translation
And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.
New King James Version
Though they say, "As the LORD lives,' Surely they swear falsely."
New Living Translation
But even when they are under oath, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,' they are still telling lies!"
New Life Bible
Even if they say, ‘As the Lord lives,' for sure their promises are false."
New Revised Standard
Although they say, "As the Lord lives," yet they swear falsely.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Even though they say By the life of Yahweh, Yet in fact falsely, do they swear.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And though they say: The Lord liveth; this also they will swear falsely.
Revised Standard Version
Though they say, "As the LORD lives," yet they swear falsely.
Young's Literal Translation
And if they say, `Jehovah liveth,' Surely to a falsehood they swear.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"And although they say, 'As the LORD lives,' Surely they swear falsely."

Contextual Overview

1 The Lord said, "Go up and down through the streets of Jerusalem. Look around and see for yourselves. Search through its public squares. See if any of you can find a single person who deals honestly and tries to be truthful. If you can, then I will not punish this city. 2 These people make promises in the name of the Lord . But the fact is, what they swear to is really a lie." 3 Lord , I know you look for faithfulness. But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse. Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected. They have become as hardheaded as a rock. They refuse to change their ways. 4 I thought, "Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. They do not know what their God requires of them. 5 I will go to the leaders and speak with them. Surely they know what the Lord demands. Surely they know what their God requires of them." Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authority and refuse to submit to him. 6 So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them. Like a wolf from the desert they will destroy them. Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their cities and totally destroy anyone who ventures out. For they have rebelled so much and done so many unfaithful things. 7 The Lord asked, "How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem? Your people have rejected me and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all. Even though I supplied all their needs, they were like an unfaithful wife to me. They went flocking to the houses of prostitutes. 8 They are like lusty, well-fed stallions. Each of them lusts after his neighbor's wife. 9 I will surely punish them for doing such things!" says the Lord . "I will surely bring retribution on such a nation as this!"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

though: Jeremiah 4:2, Jeremiah 7:9, Leviticus 19:12, Isaiah 48:1, Hosea 4:1, Hosea 4:2, Hosea 4:15, Hosea 10:4, Zechariah 5:3, Zechariah 5:4, Malachi 3:5, 1 Timothy 1:10, 2 Timothy 3:5, Titus 1:16

Reciprocal: Genesis 42:15 - By the life Leviticus 6:3 - sweareth Deuteronomy 6:13 - shalt swear 1 Samuel 19:6 - sware 1 Samuel 20:21 - as the 1 Kings 17:12 - As the Lord Job 27:2 - God liveth Psalms 24:4 - sworn Isaiah 29:13 - Forasmuch Isaiah 59:15 - truth Jeremiah 2:6 - Where Jeremiah 12:16 - my name Jeremiah 42:5 - The Lord be Jeremiah 44:26 - The Lord God Ezekiel 17:13 - taken an oath of him Ezekiel 17:19 - surely

Cross-References

Genesis 1:27
God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.
Genesis 2:15
The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it.
Genesis 2:23
Then the man said, "This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called ‘woman,' for she was taken out of man."
Malachi 2:15
No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth.
Matthew 19:4
He answered, "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female ,
Mark 10:6
But from the beginning of creation he made them male and female .
Acts 17:26
From one man he made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth, determining their set times and the fixed limits of the places where they would live,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And though they say, the Lord liveth,.... It might be said, that there were multitudes that made mention of the name of the Lord, that professed it, and swore by it; which sometimes is put for the worship and service of God, Deuteronomy 10:20 and therefore it could not be so difficult a matter to find a man of integrity and uprightness among them; this is answered by allowing there were persons that did do so: but then it must be observed,

that surely they swear falsely; they abused the name of God, and were guilty of perjury: or the sense is, they were only nominal professors, hypocritical worshippers; in words professed to know God, but in works denied him; had a form of religion and godliness, but without the power of it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Though they take the most binding form of oath, they do so only as a means of deceiving others.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 5:2. The Lord liveth — Though they profess to bind themselves by Jehovah, as if they acknowledged him their God and only Lord, yet they swore falsely; for not believing in him, they took a false oath; one by which they did not believe themselves bound, not acknowledging him as their Lord. See on Jeremiah 4:2.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile