Jeremiah 16:11

Then you are to answer them: ‘It is because your fathers have forsaken Me, declares the LORD, and followed other gods, and served and worshiped them. They abandoned Me and did not keep My instruction.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God commands Jeremiah to answer the people’s inquiry about impending disaster by tracing it to ancestral disobedience. The prophet addresses Israel as they demand to know the cause of divine judgment.

The words — The text highlights עָזְבוּ ('a.ze.Vu), meaning "they forsook," and נְאֻם־ (ne.'um-), denoting "declares the LORD." These terms anchor the judgment in a direct divine utterance about abandonment.

The thread — This pattern of ancestral abandonment and covenant rupture recurs in Deuteronomy 29:25, 1 Kings 9:9, and Psalm 106:35. Each reference traces national calamity to the same foundational breach of loyalty.

Why it lands — The verse demands acknowledgment that collective judgment stems from inherited and repeated covenant failure. It requires readers to confront personal complicity in abandoning divine instruction rather than seeking external blame.

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

King James Version

Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the Lord, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;

Cross-references

Psalms 106:35 but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.
Deuteronomy 29:25 And the people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.
1 Kings 9:9 And others will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—because of this, the LORD has brought all this disaster upon them.’”
Nehemiah 9:26 But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.
Jeremiah 5:7 “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.
Jeremiah 8:2 They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried, but will become like dung lying on the ground.
Jeremiah 22:9 Then people will reply, ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and have worshiped and served other gods.’”
Ezekiel 11:21 But as for those whose hearts pursue detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”
1 Peter 4:3 For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.
Judges 2:12 Thus they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed after various gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and provoked the LORD to anger,