Jeremiah 5:14
in Jeremiah 5Therefore this is what the LORD God of Hosts says: “Because you have spoken this word, I will make My words a fire in your mouth and this people the wood it consumes.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wherefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
KJV
Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
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This verse in Jeremiah 5
Commentary
8 notes on this verseGod owns them for his words, though men denied them, and will as surely make them to take effect as the fire consumes combustible material that is in its way. The word shall be fire and the people wood. Sinners by sin make themselves fuel to that wrath of God which is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men in the scripture.
This site's exposition
I will make My words a fire in your mouth
on Jeremiah 5:14-17
Because the people have spoken this word, the LORD makes His words “a fire in your mouth and this people the wood it consumes”. The distant nation is drawn by what a hearer in Jerusalem cannot do, since its language is one “you do not know”.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Verse 14) Thus says the Lord God of hosts, because you have spoken these words: behold, I will make my words in your mouth like fire, and this people like wood, and it shall devour them. You said: The prophets have spoken in vain, and their threats will not come to pass: therefore, O prophet, I will make my words in your mouth have the power of fire, and I will turn this people into wood, so that through your words and the disbelief of the prophecy they may be consumed.
We say then that the power of the divine message resembles a live coal and fire. And the God of all somewhere said to the prophet Jeremiah, "Behold, I have made my words in your mouth to be fire, and this people to be wood, and it shall devour them." And again, "Are not my words as burning fire, says the Lord?" Rightly, therefore, did our Lord Jesus Christ say to us, "I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled." For already some of the Jewish crowd believed on him, whose firstfruits were the divine disciples. The fire, being once kindled, was soon to seize on the whole world immediately after the whole dispensation had attained to its completion.… He had borne his precious passion on the cross and had commanded the bonds of death to cease. He rose on the third day from the dead.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the L ORD , nor the judgment of their God. 5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the L ORD , and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:94%@v4-5
Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, because ye speak this word,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
ye . . . thy . . . this people--He turns away from addressing the people to the prophet; implying that He puts them to a distance from Him, and only communicates with them through His prophet (Jer 5:19). fire . . . wood--Thy denunciations of judgments shall be fulfilled and shall consume them as fire does wood.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Because ye speak this word - Because ye thus treat my message, “I will make my words in thy mouth fire.” They have said they are but air; but I will make them fire, and a fire too that shall devour them. And how this was to be done, and by whom, is mentioned in the next verse.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And the prophets shall become wind As the Targum renders: And the false prophets shall become naught.
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. 5 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
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֗ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| כֹּֽה־ | koh- | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֤ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֣י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| צְבָא֔וֹת | tzevaot | hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| יַ֚עַן | yaan | because | H3282 → | 99 times |
| דַּבֶּרְכֶ֔ם | daberkhem | have spoken you | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַדָּבָ֖ר | hadavar | the word | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| הַזֶּ֑ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| הִנְנִ֣י | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| נֹתֵן֩ | noten | [am] about to make | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| דְּבָרַ֨י | devarai | words my | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| בְּפִ֜יךָ | befikha | in mouth your | H6310 → | 498 times |
| לְאֵ֗שׁ | leesh | into a fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| וְהָעָ֥ם | vehaam | and the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּ֛ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| עֵצִ֖ים | ʾetzim | wood<s> | H6086 → | 328 times |
| וַאֲכָלָֽתַם׃ | vaakhalatam | and it will consume them | H398 → | 810 times |
לָכֵ֗ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
כֹּֽה־thus
koh-H3541 →577 times
אָמַ֤רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֣י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
צְבָא֔וֹתhosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
יַ֚עַןbecause
yaanH3282 →99 times
דַּבֶּרְכֶ֔םhave spoken you
daberkhemH1696 →1141 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַדָּבָ֖רthe word
hadavarH1697 →1440 times
הַזֶּ֑ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
הִנְנִ֣יhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
נֹתֵן֩[am] about to make
notenH5414 →2011 times
דְּבָרַ֨יwords my
devaraiH1697 →1440 times
בְּפִ֜יךָin mouth your
befikhaH6310 →498 times
לְאֵ֗שׁinto a fire
leeshH784 →378 times
וְהָעָ֥םand the people
vehaamH5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּ֛ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
עֵצִ֖יםwood<s>
ʾetzimH6086 →328 times
וַאֲכָלָֽתַם׃and it will consume them
vaakhalatamH398 →810 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 1:9Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
it leads to
- Luke 21:15
For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.
- Exodus 4:11–12
And the LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
- Luke 12:12
For at that time the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say.”
- Isaiah 51:16
I have put My words in your mouth, and covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”
- Isaiah 50:4
The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of discipleship, to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning; He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
- Luke 21:15
Through
Jeremiah 23:29“Is not My word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that smashes a rock?”
it leads to
- Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 24:32
They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
- Jeremiah 20:9
If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of…
- Hebrews 4:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 94; 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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.