Jeremiah 27:17
in Jeremiah 27Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live! Why should this city become a ruin?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city become a desolation?
KJV
Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city be laid waste?
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This verse in Jeremiah 27
Commentary
6 notes on this verseHearken not unto them,.... The false prophets: serve the king of Babylon, and live; pay homage and tribute to him; which is the way to live in your own land, and enjoy the benefits of that, and of the temple worship; which, if not, you will be utterly deprived of: wherefore should this city be laid waste? as it certainly will, should you rebel against the king of Babylon; and as it was in a few years after, when they did.
This site's exposition
Then I said to the priests
on Jeremiah 27:16-18
The priests are warned against the promise that “very soon now the articles from the house of the LORD will be brought back from Babylon.” Jeremiah offers a test: if they are prophets, “let them now plead with the LORD of Hosts” that the articles still in Jerusalem stay.
This site's exposition
Serve the king of Babylon and live
Gill explains that to “Serve the king of Babylon” meant paying him homage and tribute. That submission was the way to “live,” and refusing it would make the city “a ruin.” Judah rebelled, and the city fell as the verse warned.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 16, 17.) And I spoke to the priests and to this people, saying: thus says the Lord: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying: Behold, the vessels of the Lord will return from Babylon now quickly: for they are prophesying lies to you. This, which we have now set, in the Septuagint is not present: and that which follows, Do not listen to them, but serve the king of Babylon, so that you may live. Why is this city being laid waste?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
11 But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the L ORD ; and they shall till it, and dwell therein. Some difficulty occurs in the date of this prophecy. This word is said to come to Jeremiah in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
): " Wherefore should it be laid waste, as certainly it will be if you stand it out?" The priests had been Jeremiah's enemies, and had sought his life to destroy it, yet he approves himself their friend, and seeks their lives, to preserve and secure them, which is an example to us to render good for evil.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
“Behold the vessels of the house of the Lord” That were exiled with Jeconiah.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּשְׁמְע֣וּ | tishmeu | you listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶ֔ם | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עִבְד֥וּ | ʾivdu | serve | H5647 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מֶֽלֶךְ־ | melekh- | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| בָּבֶ֖ל | bavel | Babylon | H894 → | 262 times |
| וִֽחְי֑וּ | vichyu | and live | H2421 → | 282 times |
| לָ֧מָּה | lamah | <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| תִֽהְיֶ֛ה | tihyeh | will it become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| הָעִ֥יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| הַזֹּ֖את | hazot | <the> this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| חָרְבָּֽה׃ | charebah | a ruin | H2723 → | 42 times |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תִּשְׁמְע֣וּyou listen
tishmeuH8085 →1159 times
אֲלֵיהֶ֔םto them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
עִבְד֥וּserve
ʾivduH5647 →288 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of
melekh-H4428 →2525 times
בָּבֶ֖לBabylon
bavelH894 →262 times
וִֽחְי֑וּand live
vichyuH2421 →282 times
לָ֧מָּה<to> why?
lamahH4100 →752 times
תִֽהְיֶ֛הwill it become
tihyehH1961 →3559 times
הָעִ֥ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
הַזֹּ֖את<the> this
hazotH2063 →603 times
חָרְבָּֽה׃a ruin
charebahH2723 →42 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 38:17Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you indeed surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live,…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 27:12
And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke the same message: “Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and live!
- Jeremiah 38:2
“This is what the LORD says: Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live; he will retain his life like a…
- Jeremiah 27:12
Through
Jeremiah 38:23All your wives and children will be brought out to the Chaldeans. And you yourself will not escape their grasp, for you will be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city will…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 41:10
Then Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people of Mizpah—the daughters of the king along with all the others who remained in Mizpah—over whom Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had appointed Gedaliah…
- Jeremiah 39:6
There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the nobles of Judah.
- Jeremiah 38:18
But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans. They will burn it down, and you yourself…
- Jeremiah 41:10
Through
Jeremiah 7:34I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.”
it leads to
- Ezekiel 26:13
So I will silence the sound of your songs, and the music of your lyres will no longer be heard.
- Revelation 18:23
The light of a lamp will never shine in you again, and the voices of a bride and bridegroom will never call out in you again. For your merchants were the great ones of…
- Hosea 2:11
I will put an end to all her exultation: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths—all her appointed feasts.
- Ezekiel 26:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.