Jeremiah 32:23

23 And they entered, and had it in possession; and they obeyed not to thy voice, and they went not in thy law (but they did not obey thy commands, and they did not walk in thy Law); all things which thou commandedest to them to do, they did not (do); and all these evils befell to them.

Jeremiah 32:23 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 32:23

And they came in and possessed it
After forty years travel in the wilderness; they entered into it with Joshua at the head of them, and the Lord with them; giving victory over the Canaanites, who were soon subdued; and the Israelites with little trouble settled in their land, which was divided to them by lot, and possessed as their inheritance: but they obeyed not thy voice;
though they promised at Sinai they would, and though they were so much obliged by the goodness of God to them; this shows great ingratitude in them: neither walked in thy law;
moral, ceremonial, and judicial, given at Harsh as the rule of their obedience; but they walked not according to it: they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do;
they were not only deficient in some things, but in everything; they not only broke some of the laws of God, but all of them; there was not one law, one command, observed by them as it ought to have been; and yet these people were always prone to establish their own righteousness, and seek for justification by it: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them;
the Chaldean army, now besieging them; and the famine and pestilence among them; which, the prophet serves, were but the righteous judgments of God upon them for their sins.

Jeremiah 32:23 In-Context

21 And thou leddest thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt, in signs and in great wonders, and in a strong hand, and in an arm holden forth, and in great dread; (And thou leddest thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt, with signs and great wonders, and with a strong hand and an arm stretched forth, and with great fear;)

22 and thou gavest to them this land, which thou sworest to the fathers of them (which thou sworest to their fathers), that thou wouldest give to them, a land flowing with milk and honey.

23 And they entered, and had it in possession; and they obeyed not to thy voice, and they went not in thy law (but they did not obey thy commands, and they did not walk in thy Law); all things which thou commandedest to them to do, they did not (do); and all these evils befell to them.

24 Lo! strongholds be builded against the city, that it be taken, and the city is given into the hands of Chaldees, and into the hands of the king of Babylon, that fight against it, of the face of [the] sword, and of hunger, and of pestilence (because of the sword, and hunger, and pestilence); and whatever things thou spakest, befell, as thou thyself seest.

25 And thou saidest to me, Lord God, Buy thou a field for silver, and give thou witnesses, when the city is given in(to) the hands of Chaldees. (And, Lord God, thou saidest to me, Buy thou a field for silver, and have thou witnesses, even though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.)