Jeremiah 7:16

Lexham English Bible

Contextual Overview

¹⁶ "And you, you must not pray for this people, and you must not lift up for them a cry of entreaty or a prayer, and you must not plead with me, for I will not hear you. ¹⁷ Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁸ The children are gathering wood, and the fathers are kindling the fire, and the women are kneading dough to make sacrificial cakes for the queen of heaven, and they pour out libations to other gods for the sake of provoking me to anger. ¹⁹ Are they provoking me to anger? " declares Yahweh, "Is it not themselves they hurt, for the sake of the shame of their faces?" ²⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, "Look, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on the humankind, and on the animal, and on the tree of the field, and on the fruit of the ground, and it will not be extinguished."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

pray: Jeremiah 11:14, Jeremiah 14:11, Jeremiah 14:12, Jeremiah 15:1, Jeremiah 18:20, Exodus 32:10, Ezekiel 14:14-20, 1 John 5:16

I will: 2 Samuel 8:18, Isaiah 1:15, Micah 3:4

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 3:14 - the iniquity 1 Samuel 16:1 - How long Jeremiah 4:28 - because Jeremiah 27:18 - let them Ezekiel 20:4 - judge them

Cross-References

Genesis 7:1
Then Yahweh said to Noah, "Go—you and all your household—into the ark, for I have seen you are righteous before me in this generation.

Genesis 7:2
From all the clean animals you must take for yourself seven pairs, a male and its mate. And from the animals that are not clean you must take two, a male and its mate,

Genesis 7:3
as well as from the birds of heaven seven pairs, male and female, to keep their kind alive on the face of the earth.

Genesis 7:4
For within seven days I will send rain upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. And I will blot out all the living creatures that I have made from upon the face of the ground."

Genesis 7:5
And Noah did according to all that Yahweh commanded him.

Genesis 7:10
And it happened that after seven days the waters of the flood came over the earth.

Deuteronomy 33:27
The God of ancient time is a hiding place, and underneath are the arms of eternity, and he drove out from before you your enemy, and he said, ‘Destroy them!'

Psalms 46:2
Therefore we will not fear though the earth change, and though the mountains totter into the midst of the sea,

Proverbs 3:23
Then you will walk in the confidence of your ways, and your foot will not stumble.

Matthew 25:10
But while they had gone away to buy it the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding celebration, and the door was shut.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Therefore pray not thou for this people,.... These are the words of the Lord to the Prophet Jeremiah, forbidding him to pray for the people of the Jews; which he either was doing, or about to do, and which, from the great affection he had for them, he was inclined unto; wherefore, to show how much the Lord was displeased with them, and how determined he was to punish them with captivity, he orders the prophet not to make any supplication for them:

neither lift up cry nor prayer for them; referring to the gestures of lifting up the eyes and hands in prayer, and also to the frame of the heart, in the exercise of faith and holy confidence: "cry" and "prayer" are put together, because prayer is sometimes made, especially when persons are in great distress, with strong cryings and tears; see Hebrews 5:7:

neither make intercession to me; or, "meet me" o; or come between him and this people, and so act the part of a mediator, of which office intercession is a branch; it properly belongs to Christ. The Jews say p there is no פגיעה, "meeting", but prayer, or that is always intended by it; for proof of which they cite this passage:

for I will not hear thee; on the behalf of them, being so highly provoked by them, and determined they should go into captivity; see

Jeremiah 15:1.

o ואל תפגע בי "et ne oecurras mihi", Calvin; "et ne obsistas mihi", V. L. "et ne intervenias apud me", Tigurine version. p T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 26. 2. Taanith, fol. 7. 2. & 8. 1. Sota, fol. 14. 1. & Sanhedrin, fol. 95. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

They had reached that stage in which men sin without any sense of guilt (see 1 John 5:16).

Neither make intercession to me - In Jeremiah 14:7-9 we have an intercessory prayer offered by Jeremiah, but not heard. The intercession of Moses prevailed with God Numbers 11:2; Numbers 14:13-20; Numbers 16:22, because the progress of the people then wins upward; the progress now was from bad to worse, and therefore in Jeremiah 15:1 we read that the intercession even of Moses and Samuel (see 1 Samuel 12:23) would profit nothing.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 7:16. Therefore pray not thou for this people — They have filled up the measure of their iniquity, and they must become examples of my justice. How terrible must the state of that place be, where God refuses to pour out the spirit of supplication on his ministers and people in its behalf!