Jeremiah 25:6
in Jeremiah 25Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
KJV
And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
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This verse in Jeremiah 25
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
And the LORD has sent all
on Jeremiah 25:4-7
The LORD sent “all His servants the prophets to you again and again,” the phrase verse 3 uses of Jeremiah's own preaching. Verse 7 puts the refusal in the people's own loss, “to your own harm, you have not listened to Me.”
This site's exposition
do not provoke Me to anger
“Do not follow other gods,” and “do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands,” the idols they had made. The verse closes on a promise, “Then I will do you no harm.” Verse 7 answers it with the harm the people bring on themselves by refusing.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
(Verse 6, 7.) And do not go after foreign gods, to serve them and worship them; and do not provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, and I will not afflict you. But you did not listen to me, says the Lord, to provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, to your own harm.
A commentator
Lucius Caecilius Firmianus LactantiusDIVINE INSTITUTES 4:11 · Written before 325.
proposed
When the Jews often resisted wholesome precepts and departed from the divine law, going astray to the impious worship of false gods, then God filled just and chosen men with the Holy Spirit, appointing them as prophets in the midst of the people, by whom he might rebuke with threatening words the sins of the ungrateful people and nevertheless exhort them to repent of their wickedness. Unless they did this and, laying aside their vanities, returned to their God, it would come to pass that he would change his covenant, that is, bestow the inheritance of eternal life on foreign nations and collect to himself a more faithful people out of those who were aliens by birth. But they, when rebuked by the prophets, not only rejected their words but, being offended because they were scolded for their sins, killed the prophets with calculated tortures. All these things are sealed up and preserved in the sacred writings. For the prophet Jeremiah says, "I have sent to you my servants, the prophets. I sent them before light, and you hearkened not to me nor inclined your ears to hear when I said to you, 'Return, you, every one from this evil way and from your wicked devices, and you shall dwell in that land that I have given to you and to your ancestors forever and ever. Do not go after strange gods to serve them, and do not provoke me to wrath by the works of your hands for afflicting you.' "
He mentions the great number of years in order to emphasize God's long-suffering in putting up with unbelievers for so long. I sent my servants the prophets to you, he says. I urged you to abandon the road to ruin and travel by the other …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
A very express threatening of the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem, by the king of Babylon, for their contempt of God, and their continuance in sin (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
They all reproved them particularly for their idolatry, as a sin that was in a special manner provoking to God, their going after other gods, to serve them and to worship them, gods that were the work of their own hands. They all called on them to repent of their sins and to reform their lives. This was the burden of every song, Turn you now every one from his evil way.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
He instances one sin, idolatry, as representative of all their sins; as nothing is dearer to God than a pure worship of Himself.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַל־ | veal- | and may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תֵּלְכ֗וּ | telekhu | you walk | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אַֽחֲרֵי֙ | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֣ים | ʾelohim | gods | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲחֵרִ֔ים | ʾacherim | other | H312 → | 166 times |
| לְעָבְדָ֖ם | leavedam | to serve them | H5647 → | 288 times |
| וּלְהִשְׁתַּחֲוֹ֣ת | ulehishtachavot | and to bow down | H7812 → | 172 times |
| לָהֶ֑ם | lahem | to <the> them | ||
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַכְעִ֤יסוּ | takhisu | you must provoke to anger | H3707 → | 54 times |
| אוֹתִי֙ | ʾoti | <obj.> me | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּמַעֲשֵׂ֣ה | bemaaseh | by [the] work of | H4639 → | 236 times |
| יְדֵיכֶ֔ם | yedeikhem | hands your | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אָרַ֖ע | ʾara' | I will do harm | H7489 → | 107 times |
| לָכֶֽם׃ | lakhem | to <the> you |
וְאַל־and may not
veal-H408 →724 times
תֵּלְכ֗וּyou walk
telekhuH1980 →1546 times
אַֽחֲרֵי֙after
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
אֱלֹהִ֣יםgods
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
אֲחֵרִ֔יםother
ʾacherimH312 →166 times
לְעָבְדָ֖םto serve them
leavedamH5647 →288 times
וּלְהִשְׁתַּחֲוֹ֣תand to bow down
ulehishtachavotH7812 →172 times
לָהֶ֑םto <the> them
lahem
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
תַכְעִ֤יסוּyou must provoke to anger
takhisuH3707 →54 times
אוֹתִי֙<obj.> me
ʾotiH853 →10935 times
בְּמַעֲשֵׂ֣הby [the] work of
bemaasehH4639 →236 times
יְדֵיכֶ֔םhands your
yedeikhemH3027 →1618 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
אָרַ֖עI will do harm
ʾara'H7489 →107 times
לָכֶֽם׃to <the> you
lakhem
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 7:6if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm,
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 8:19
If you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 11:28
but a curse if you disobey the commandments of the LORD your God and turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 22:21–24
You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
- Jeremiah 13:10
These evil people, who refuse to listen to My words, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who go after other gods to serve and worship them, they will be like this…
- Deuteronomy 8:19
Through
2 Kings 17:35For the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites and commanded them, “Do not worship other gods or bow down to them; do not serve them or sacrifice to them.
it leads to
- Judges 6:10
And I said to you: ‘I am the LORD your God. You must not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.’ But you did not obey Me.”
- Judges 6:10
Through
1 Kings 14:22And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and by the sins they committed they provoked Him to jealous anger more than all their fathers had done.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 12:1
After Rehoboam had established his sovereignty and royal power, he and all Israel with him forsook the Law of the LORD.
- 2 Chronicles 12:1
Through
Deuteronomy 6:14Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 13:7
the gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, whether from one end of the earth or the other),
- 1 John 5:21
Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
- Deuteronomy 13:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius, DIVINE INSTITUTES 4:11; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, ON JEREMIAH 6:25.3-7.