Jeremiah 26:5
in Jeremiah 26and if you do not listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have sent you again and again even though you did not listen,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
to hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I send unto you, even rising up early and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;
KJV
To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;
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This verse in Jeremiah 26
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
And you are to tell them
on Jeremiah 26:4-6
The condition is to “listen to Me and walk in My law”. The threat names a place: “I will make this house like Shiloh,” the sanctuary destroyed after Eli's sons. The city is to become “an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.”
This site's exposition
the words of My servants the prophets
Clarke notes that this passage repeats the sermon of chapter 7. The prophets sent again and again appear there too, in 7:25, and again in 25:4. The charge takes in every prophet the LORD sent before Jeremiah, so his hearers refuse a long line of voices.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Verse 5) and listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I have sent to you, rising up early and sending them, and you have not listened. But if it sufficed to walk once in the law, which was given to us by Moses, as a foolish sect suspects, how did he add: 'That you may hear the words of my servants the prophets.' Who, indeed, were sent after the law, and not once, but frequently: not leisurely and without care, but always and with concern. 'I have sent,' he says, 'to you my servants the prophets daily, and rising by night.'
To us, therefore, the power has been given to act or not to act, with the consequence that whatever good work we desire, will and accomplish, we should refer to the grace of God, who, according to the apostle, enables us to will and to work.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets,....
Can any other be expected? This was not the first time he had given them warning to this effect; see ch. vii. When the temple, which was the glory of Jerusalem, was destroyed, the city was thereby made a curse; for the temple was that which made it a blessing.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לִשְׁמֹ֗עַ | lishmoa' | to listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| דִּבְרֵ֨י | divrei | [the] words of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| עֲבָדַ֣י | ʾavadai | servants my | H5650 → | 799 times |
| הַנְּבִאִ֔ים | haneviim | the prophets | H5030 → | 314 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אָנֹכִ֖י | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | 359 times |
| שֹׁלֵ֣חַ | sholeach | [have been] sending | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֲלֵיכֶ֑ם | ʾaleikhem | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וְהַשְׁכֵּ֥ם | vehashkem | and rising early | H7925 → | 65 times |
| וְשָׁלֹ֖חַ | veshaloach | and sending | H7971 → | 845 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שְׁמַעְתֶּֽם׃ | shema'tem | you have listened | H8085 → | 1159 times |
לִשְׁמֹ֗עַto listen
lishmoa'H8085 →1159 times
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
דִּבְרֵ֨י[the] words of
divreiH1697 →1440 times
עֲבָדַ֣יservants my
ʾavadaiH5650 →799 times
הַנְּבִאִ֔יםthe prophets
haneviimH5030 →314 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אָנֹכִ֖יI
ʾanokhiH595 →359 times
שֹׁלֵ֣חַ[have been] sending
sholeachH7971 →845 times
אֲלֵיכֶ֑םto you
ʾaleikhemH413 →5510 times
וְהַשְׁכֵּ֥םand rising early
vehashkemH7925 →65 times
וְשָׁלֹ֖חַand sending
veshaloachH7971 →845 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
שְׁמַעְתֶּֽם׃you have listened
shema'temH8085 →1159 times
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 7:25From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 36:15
Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 25:4
And the LORD has sent all His servants the prophets to you again and again, but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear.
- 2 Chronicles 36:15
Through
Jeremiah 7:13And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but…
it leads to
- Isaiah 65:12
I will destine you for the sword, and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen; you did evil…
- Proverbs 1:24
Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,
- Jeremiah 7:25
From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again.
- 2 Chronicles 36:15–16
Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place.
- Zechariah 7:13
And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts.
- Isaiah 65:12
Through
Ezra 9:11that You gave through Your servants the prophets, saying: ‘The land that you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the impurity of its peoples and the abominations with which they have…
it leads to
- Leviticus 18:24–30
Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves.
- Leviticus 18:24–30
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; Jerome, SIX BOOKS ON JEREMIAH 5:37.2-4; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
