Jeremiah 7:17

17 Don't you see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

Jeremiah 7:17 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 7:17

Seest thou not what they do in the cities Judah
Not in one city only, but in all of and particularly the chief of them; as follows: and in the streets of Jerusalem?
these words, with what is said next, show the reason why the prophet was forbid to pray for this people, and the Lord was so provoked with them as to cast them out of his sight; and he appeals to the prophet, and to what he saw, or which he might see; for what was done was done not in secret, but openly, in the very streets of the city; by which he might be sufficiently convinced it was but just with God to do what he determined to do with them.

Jeremiah 7:17 In-Context

15 I will push you away from me just as I pushed away your relatives, the people of Israel!'

16 "As for you, Jeremiah, don't pray for these people. Don't cry out for them or ask anything for them or beg me to help them, because I will not listen to you.

17 Don't you see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

18 The children gather wood, and the fathers use the wood to make a fire. The women make the dough for cakes of bread, and they offer them to the Queen Goddess. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to make me angry.

19 But I am not the one the people of Judah are really hurting, says the Lord. They are only hurting themselves and bringing shame upon themselves.