Jeremiah 16:12

12 And you, you have acted worse than your ancestors, each of you following your own willful, evil hearts and paying no attention to me.

Jeremiah 16:12 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 16:12

And ye have done worse than your fathers
Not only committed the same sins, but greater, or, however, attended with more aggravating circumstances; they were wilfully and impudently done, and obstinately persisted in; and therefore deserving of the great evil of punishment pronounced against them. For, behold, ye walk everyone after the imagination of his evil heart;
they walked not as the word of God directs, but as their own evil heart dictated; the imagination of which was evil, and that continually, ( Genesis 6:5 ) . That they may not hearken unto me;
to the word of the Lord, and obey that; their minds being blinded, and their hearts hardened, and they obstinately bent on their own evil ways.

Jeremiah 16:12 In-Context

10 When you proclaim all these things to the people, and they ask you, "Why has the LORD pronounced such massive devastation against us? What have we done wrong? How have we sinned against the LORD our God?"

11 then you should tell them: It's because your ancestors have deserted me and followed other gods, declares the LORD. They have served and worshipped them, while abandoning me and refusing to keep my Instruction.

12 And you, you have acted worse than your ancestors, each of you following your own willful, evil hearts and paying no attention to me.

13 So I will banish you from this land to a place that neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no mercy.

14 But the time is coming, declares the LORD, when no one will say, "As the LORD lives who brought up the Israelites from the land of Egypt";