Jeremiah 18:10

and if it does evil in My sight and does not listen to My voice, then I will relent of the good I had intended for it.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Yahweh speaks through Jeremiah to Judah and Jerusalem during a prophetic address about conditional national outcomes. The declaration immediately follows an announcement that God would build up and establish a people if they obeyed.

The words — וְ/נִֽחַמְתִּי (ve./ni.cham.Ti) = and/ I will relent [H5162] paired with עַל\־ ('al-) = on [H5921] literally frames divine change of mind as a response upon a specific condition. The phrase describes God withdrawing the intended good when evil is committed.

The thread — This conditional pattern appears in 1 Samuel 2:30 regarding the lifting of honor from a disobedient house, and in Ezekiel 33:18 where a righteous person’s turn to iniquity results in death. Both passages reinforce that declared outcomes shift according to ongoing human conduct.

Why it lands — The text requires readers to accept that proclaimed blessings are not absolute guarantees but depend on sustained obedience. It demands immediate alignment with divine instruction to avoid the reversal of intended favor.

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

וְעָשָׂ֤הve./'a.Sahand/ it will do הָרַע֙ha./ra.'ahthe/ evil בְּעֵינַ֔יbe./'ei.Na/iin/ view/ my לְבִלְתִּ֖יle./vil.Tito/ not שְׁמֹ֣עַshe.Mo.a'to listen בְּקוֹלִ֑יbe./ko.L/ito/ voice/ my וְנִֽחַמְתִּי֙ve./ni.cham.Tiand/ I will relent עַל־'al-on הַטּוֹבָ֔הha./to.Vahthe/ good אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.Sherwhich אָמַ֖רְתִּי'a.Mar.tiI had said לְהֵיטִ֥יבle./hei.Tivto/ do good to אוֹתֽוֹ׃ ס'o.T/o<obj.>/ it

King James Version

If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

Cross-references

1 Samuel 2:30 Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained.
Ezekiel 33:18 If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die for it.
1 Samuel 13:13 “You have acted foolishly,” Samuel declared. “You have not kept the command that the LORD your God gave you; if you had, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.
Ezekiel 18:24 But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, committing the same abominations as the wicked, will he live? None of the righteous acts he did will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness and sin he has committed, he will die.
1 Samuel 15:11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My instructions.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all that night.
Psalms 125:5 But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel.
Numbers 14:22 not one of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness—yet have tested Me and disobeyed Me these ten times—
1 Samuel 15:35 And to the day of his death, Samuel never again visited Saul. Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
Jeremiah 7:23 but this is what I commanded them: Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that it may go well with you.
Zephaniah 1:6 and those who turn back from following the LORD, neither seeking the LORD nor inquiring of Him.”