Jeremiah 6:13

13 Everyone wants to get richer and richer, from the least important of them to the most important. Prophets and priests alike try to fool everyone they can.

Jeremiah 6:13 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 6:13

For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them,
&c.] From the least in age to the oldest among them; or rather, from persons of the lowest class of life, and in the meanest circumstances, to those that are in the highest places of trust and honour, and are in the greatest affluence of riches and wealth; so that as men of every age and station had sinned, old and young, high and low, rich and poor, it was but just and right that they should all share in the common calamity: everyone is given to covetousness;
which is mentioned particularly, and instead of other sins, it being the root of evil, and was the prevailing sin among them: from the prophet even unto the priest everyone dealeth falsely;
the false prophet, as Kimchi interprets it, and so the Septuagint and other versions; and the priest of Baal, as the same interpreter; both acted deceitfully; the one in prophesying lies to the people, the other in drawing them off from the pure worship of God. The Targum is,

``from the scribe to the priest;''

from the lowest order of teachers to the highest in ecclesiastical office. The whole shows a most general and dreadful corruption.

Jeremiah 6:13 In-Context

11 But the LORD's anger burns inside me. I can no longer hold it in. The LORD says to me, "Pour out my anger on the children in the street. Pour it out on the young people who are gathered together. Husband and wife alike will be caught in it. So will those who are very old.

12 I will reach out my hand against those who live in the land," announces the Lord. "Then their houses will be turned over to others. So will their fields and their wives.

13 Everyone wants to get richer and richer, from the least important of them to the most important. Prophets and priests alike try to fool everyone they can.

14 They bandage the wounds of my people as if they were not very deep. 'Peace, peace,' they say. But there isn't any peace.

15 Are they ashamed of their hateful actions? No. They do not feel any shame at all. They do not even know how to blush. So they will fall like others who have already fallen. They will be brought down when I punish them," says the Lord.