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Sunday, July 6th, 2025
the Week of Proper 9 / Ordinary 14
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The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Jeremiah 5:4

Then I said, "They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Backsliders;   Blindness;   Idolatry;   Wicked (People);   Thompson Chain Reference - Ignorance;   Knowledge-Ignorance;   Moral Bankruptcy;   Poverty, Spiritual;   Poverty-Riches;   Spiritual;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Jerusalem;   Sins, National;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Way;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Zechariah, Book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Fool;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then I thought:
Hebrew Names Version
Then I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish; for they don't know the way of the LORD, nor the law of their God:
King James Version
Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the Lord , nor the judgment of their God.
English Standard Version
Then I said, "These are only the poor; they have no sense; for they do not know the way of the Lord , the justice of their God.
New American Standard Bible
Then I said, "They are only the poor, They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the LORD Or the judgment of their God.
New Century Version
But I thought, "These are only the poor, foolish people. They have not learned the way of the Lord and what their God wants them to do.
Amplified Bible
Then I said, "[Surely] these are only the poor (uneducated); They are [sinfully] foolish and have no [spiritual] understanding, For they do not know the way of the LORD Or the ordinance of their God [and the requirements of His just and righteous law].
World English Bible
Then I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish; for they don't know the way of Yahweh, nor the law of their God:
Geneva Bible (1587)
Therefore I saide, Surely they are poore, they are foolish, for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the iudgement of their God.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then I said, "They are only the poor;They are foolish;For they do not know the way of YahwehOr the legal judgment of their God.
Contemporary English Version
Then I thought to myself, "These common people act like fools, and they have never learned what the Lord their God demands of them.
Complete Jewish Bible
My reaction was, "These must be the poor, the foolish, not knowing the way of Adonai or the rulings of their God.
Darby Translation
And I said, Surely these are the wretched ones, they are foolish; for they know not the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God.
Easy-to-Read Version
But I said to myself, "It must be only the poor who are so foolish. They have not learned the way of the Lord . They don't know the teachings of their God.
George Lamsa Translation
Therefore I said, It is because they are poor; they have gone astray, for they do not know the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.
Good News Translation
Then I thought, "These are only the poor and ignorant. They behave foolishly; they don't know what their God requires, what the Lord wants them to do.
Lexham English Bible
Then I said, "They are just simple people, they are foolish, for they know not the way of Yahweh, the law of their God.
Literal Translation
So I said, Surely they are poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Therfore I thought in my self: peraduenture they are so symple and folish, that they vnderstonde nothinge of the LORDES waye, and iudgmentes of oure God.
American Standard Version
Then I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish; for they know not the way of Jehovah, nor the law of their God:
Bible in Basic English
Then I said, But these are the poor: they are foolish, for they have no knowledge of the way of the Lord or of the behaviour desired by their God.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And I said: 'Surely these are poor, they are foolish, for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the ordinance of their God;
King James Version (1611)
Therefore I said, Surely these are poore, they are foolish: for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the iudgement of their God.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Therfore I thought in my selfe: peraduenture they are so simple & foolishe that they vnderstande nothyng of the Lordes way, and iudgementes of their God.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Then I said, It may be they are poor; for they are weak, for they know not the way of the Lord, or the judgment of God.
English Revised Version
Then I said, Surely these are poor: they are foolish; for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God:
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe Y seide, In hap thei ben pore men, and foolis, that knowen not the weie of the Lord, and the doom of her God.
Update Bible Version
Then I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish; for they don't know the way of Yahweh, nor the law of their God:
Webster's Bible Translation
Therefore I said, Surely these [are] poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, [nor] the judgment of their God.
New English Translation
I thought, "Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. They do not know what their God requires of them.
New King James Version
Therefore I said, "Surely these are poor. They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the LORD, The judgment of their God.
New Living Translation
Then I said, "But what can we expect from the poor? They are ignorant. They don't know the ways of the Lord . They don't understand God's laws.
New Life Bible
Then I said, "They are only the poor. They are foolish. For they do not know the way of the Lord or the Law of their God.
New Revised Standard
Then I said, "These are only the poor, they have no sense; for they do not know the way of the Lord , the law of their God.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, I, said, - Only, poor people, are they, - They act foolishly, For they know not the way of Yahweh, the justice of their God!
Douay-Rheims Bible
But I said: Perhaps these are poor and foolish, that know not the way of the Lord, the judgment of their God.
Revised Standard Version
Then I said, "These are only the poor, they have no sense; for they do not know the way of the LORD, the law of their God.
Young's Literal Translation
And I -- I said, `Surely these [are] poor, They have been foolish, For they have not known the way of Jehovah, The judgment of their God.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then I said, "They are only the poor, They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the LORD Or the ordinance of their God.

Contextual Overview

1Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city. 2Although they say, "As surely as the LORD lives," they are swearing falsely. 3O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent. 4Then I said, "They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.5I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God. But they too, with one accord, had broken the yoke and torn off the chains. 6Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous. 7"Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes. 8They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor's wife. 9Should I not punish them for these things?" declares the LORD. "Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Jeremiah 4:22, Jeremiah 7:8, Jeremiah 8:7, Isaiah 27:11, Isaiah 28:9-13, Hosea 4:6, Matthew 11:5, John 7:48, John 7:49

Reciprocal: Nehemiah 3:5 - their nobles Psalms 49:2 - General Isaiah 2:9 - the mean Isaiah 5:15 - the mean Isaiah 29:12 - I am not Isaiah 59:4 - calleth Jeremiah 5:21 - O foolish Jeremiah 6:10 - To whom Jeremiah 42:1 - from Hosea 4:1 - nor knowledge Amos 3:10 - they Micah 3:1 - Is it Zechariah 11:7 - General Mark 7:18 - General Luke 6:24 - woe Luke 14:18 - all 2 Peter 2:12 - as natural

Cross-References

Genesis 1:28
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth."
Genesis 5:1
This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in His own likeness.
Genesis 5:3
When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son in his own likeness, after his own image; and he named him Seth.
Genesis 5:7
And after he had become the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters.
Genesis 5:10
And after he had become the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters.
Genesis 5:13
And after he had become the father of Mahalaleel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters.
Genesis 5:19
And after he had become the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters.
Genesis 5:22
And after he had become the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.
Genesis 5:26
And after he had become the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters.
Genesis 5:30
And after he had become the father of Noah, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then I said, surely these are poor, they are foolish,.... The prophet, observing that reproofs and corrections in providence had no effect upon the people, he thought within himself that surely the reason must be, because these people are poor, and in low circumstances in the world, and are so busy in their worldly employments to get bread for their families, that they were not at leisure to attend unto divine things; nor of capacity to receive instruction and correction by providences; therefore it is they were so foolish, stupid, and infatuated:

for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God; either the way which God takes in the salvation of the sons of men, and in justifying of them, which is revealed in his word; or that which he prescribes them to walk in, in his law, even the way of truth and righteousness, and for failure of which he judges and condemns them; but of these things they were ignorant; see John 7:48, not that this is observed in excuse for them, but in order to introduce what follows; and to show that this depravity, stupidity, and ignorance, obtained among all sort of people, high and low, rich and poor.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Therefore - More simply “and.”

They are foolish - Or, they act foolishly (see Numbers 12:11), not having that knowledge which would enable them to guide their ways with discretion.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 5:4. These are poor — They are ignorant; they have no education; they know no better.


 
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