Jeremiah 2:26

26 "As a thief feels ashamed when he's caught, so the nation of Israel will feel ashamed. Their kings, princes, priests, and prophets will also feel ashamed.

Jeremiah 2:26 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 2:26

As the thief is ashamed when be is found
Taken in the fact, or convicted of it; that is, as the Targum explains it, one that has been accounted faithful, and is found a thief; for, otherwise, those who have lost their character, and are notorious for their thefts and robberies, are not ashamed when they are found out, taken, and convicted: so is the house of Israel ashamed:
of their idolatry, or ought to be; or "shall be", as the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions render it; though not now, yet hereafter, sooner or later: they, their kings, their princes, and their priests and their prophets;
all being guilty; kings setting ill examples, and the people following them; the priests being priests of Baal, and the prophets false ones.

Jeremiah 2:26 In-Context

24 You are like a wild donkey that is used to the desert, sniffing the wind while in heat. All who look for you won't get tired. They will find you during your monthly period.
25 Don't run until your feet are bare and your throats are dry. But you say that it's useless. You love foreign gods and follow them.
26 "As a thief feels ashamed when he's caught, so the nation of Israel will feel ashamed. Their kings, princes, priests, and prophets will also feel ashamed.
27 You call wood your father. You call stone your mother. You've turned your backs, not your faces, to me. But when you're in trouble, you ask me to come and rescue you.
28 Where are the gods that you made for yourselves? Let them come and rescue you when you're in trouble. You have as many gods as you have cities, Judah!
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