Jeremiah 14:12

Although they may fast, I will not listen to their cry; although they may offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will finish them off by sword and famine and plague.”

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — God speaks to Jeremiah at the moment he has been commanded to halt intercession for a nation under active judgment. The declaration immediately follows the divine instruction to cease praying for the people’s well-being.

The words — The Hebrew יָצֻ֗מוּ (ya.Tzu.mu) means "they will fast," combined with אֵינֶ֤/נִּי (‘ei.Ne./ni) "not/I" and שֹׁמֵ֙עַ֙ (sho.Me.a') "[will be] listening," literally stating "I will not listen." The verb יַעֲל֛וּ (ya.'a.Lu) translates as "they will offer up," directly referencing the burnt and grain offerings God refuses to accept.

The thread — This sequence of rejected cries and unavailing sacrifices recurs in Jeremiah 11:11, Proverbs 1:28, and Ezekiel 8:18, where divine wrath supersedes human ritual. The texts collectively record that external religious acts cannot alter a declared judgment.

Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to acknowledge that ritual compliance cannot override sovereign refusal. It demands acceptance that divine judgment stands regardless of human religious performance.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

כִּ֣יkifor יָצֻ֗מוּya.Tzu.muthey will fast אֵינֶ֤נִּי'ei.Ne./ninot/ I שֹׁמֵ֙עַ֙sho.Me.a'[will be] listening אֶל־'el-to רִנָּתָ֔םri.na.Ta/mcry of entreaty/ their וְכִ֧יve./Khieven/ if יַעֲל֛וּya.'a.Luthey will offer up עֹלָ֥ה'o.Laha burnt offering וּמִנְחָ֖הu./min.Chahand/ a grain offering אֵינֶ֣נִּי'ei.Ne./ninot/ I רֹצָ֑םro.Tza/m[will be] accepting/ them כִּ֗יKifor בַּחֶ֙רֶב֙ba./Che.revby the/ sword וּבָרָעָ֣בu./va./ra.'Avand/ by <the>/ famine וּבַדֶּ֔בֶרu./va./De.verand/ by <the>/ pestilence אָנֹכִ֖י'a.no.KhiI מְכַלֶּ֥הme.kha.Leh[will be] bringing to an end אוֹתָֽם׃ ס'o.Ta/m<obj.>/ them

King James Version

When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 11:11 Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to bring upon them a disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to Me, but I will not listen to them.
Proverbs 1:28 Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.
Ezekiel 8:18 Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”
Jeremiah 6:20 What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.”
Ezekiel 14:21 For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it both man and beast?
Micah 3:4 Then they will cry out to the LORD, but He will not answer them. At that time He will hide His face from them because of the evil they have done.
Zechariah 7:13 And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts.
Jeremiah 16:4 “They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and beasts of the earth.”
Jeremiah 24:10 And I will send against them sword and famine and plague, until they have perished from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.’”
Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.