Jeremiah 6:18
in Jeremiah 6Therefore hear, O nations, and learn, O congregations, what will happen to them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.
KJV
Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.
⋯
This verse in Jeremiah 6
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Vers. 18) Therefore hear (or they have heard) O nations: and know (or know) the congregation (or those who feed the flocks): or according to Symmachus, and know (the testimony that is in them) how much I will do to them. Listen, O earth. Therefore it is said: Hear, O nations. This is what the Apostles followed, when they spoke in Lycaonia: It was necessary for you to speak the word of God first: but because you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life: behold, we turn to the nations (Acts 13:46).
This site's exposition
Ask for the ancient paths
on Jeremiah 6:16-19
The invitation to “Ask for the ancient paths” promises “rest for your souls”, and the people answer “We will not walk in it”. The disaster that follows is “the fruit of their own schemes”, the harvest of a mind that had already rejected the LORD's instruction.
This site's exposition
Therefore hear, O nations
Barnes counts three witnesses to the sentence: the Gentile nations, the congregations of all mankind, and the earth of verse 19. Jerome heard in the turn to the nations the apostles' words at Acts 13:46, turning to the Gentiles. The verdict is public.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Jeremiah refers to their guides by the term "shepherds," not simply those accorded spiritual guidance but also kings and rulers who have accepted the divine message. This is the way the divine apostles Barnabas and Paul also behaved. When they entered a certain synagogue, they …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They would never have been ruined thus by the judgments of God's hand if they had not refused to be ruled by the judgments of his mouth: therefore you cannot say that they have any wrong done them." II. God rejects their plea, by which they insisted upon their external services as sufficient to atone for all their sins. Alas! it is a frivolous plea (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
Therefore hear, ye nations,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
God summons three witnesses to hear His sentence. (1) the Gentiles. (2) all mankind, Jews and Gentiles. (3) nature (see Jer 6:19). What is among them - Rather, “what happens” in them; i. e., “Know what great things I will do to them.”
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
congregation--parallel to "nations"; it therefore means the gathered peoples who are invited to be witnesses as to how great is the perversity of the Israelites (Jer 6:16, 17), and that they deserve the severe punishment about to be inflicted on them (Jer 6:19). what is among them--what deeds are committed by the Israelites (Jer 6:16, 17) [MAURER].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֖ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| שִׁמְע֣וּ | shimu | listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| הַגּוֹיִ֑ם | hagoyim | O nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| וּדְעִ֥י | udei | and know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| עֵדָ֖ה | ʾedah | O congregation | H5712 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | [that] which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בָּֽם׃ | bam | [is] in <the> them |
לָכֵ֖ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
שִׁמְע֣וּlisten
shimuH8085 →1159 times
הַגּוֹיִ֑םO nations
hagoyimH1471 →561 times
וּדְעִ֥יand know
udeiH3045 →945 times
עֵדָ֖הO congregation
ʾedahH5712 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אֲשֶׁר־[that] which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
בָּֽם׃[is] in <the> them
bam
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
Micah 6:5My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”
it leads to
- Joshua 5:9–10
Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So that place has been called Gilgal to this day.
- Numbers 25:1
While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab,
- Judges 5:11
the voices of the singers at the watering places. There they shall recount the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous deeds of His villagers in Israel. Then the people of the LORD went…
- 2 Peter 2:15
They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.
- Joshua 4:19
On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.
- Joshua 5:9–10
Through
Jeremiah 31:10Hear, O nations, the word of the LORD, and proclaim it in distant coastlands: “The One who scattered Israel will gather them and keep them as a shepherd keeps his flock.
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:11
He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.
- Ezekiel 34:12
As a shepherd looks for his scattered sheep when he is among the flock, so I will look for My flock. I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered…
- Deuteronomy 30:4
Even if you have been banished to the farthest horizon, He will gather you and return you from there.
- Isaiah 40:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, ON JEREMIAH 2:6.18.