Bible Strands
Jeremiah 18:11
Now therefore, tell the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I am planning a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways, and correct your ways and deeds.’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through Jeremiah to the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem, immediately after the potter's-house illustration and the conditional warning of v.10. The moment is the open window before the announced disaster is executed.
The words — אֱמָר־נָא ('emor-na') pairs the imperative "say" with the hortatory particle נָא (na'), a softening that turns the command into an urgent plea rather than a flat decree. The tone is one of pressing urgency, not cold announcement.
The thread — The formula "turn from your evil ways" recurs in 2 Kings 17:13, where the same call to Israel and Judah precedes the same kind of coming judgment. Isaiah 55:6 ("seek the LORD while He may be found") and Isaiah 1:16 ("stop doing evil") press the same point from different angles: the window is real but narrow.
Why it lands — The verse names a specific, present action — "correct your ways and deeds" — and ties it to a specific, announced consequence, leaving no room for vague spiritual aspiration. It asks the reader to decide now, while the plan is still reversible.
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
Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 17:13 Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.”
- Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
- Isaiah 1:16 Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!
- Jeremiah 7:3 Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Correct your ways and deeds, and I will let you live in this place.
- Jeremiah 35:15 Again and again I have sent you all My servants the prophets, proclaiming: ‘Turn now, each of you, from your wicked ways, and correct your actions. Do not go after other gods to serve them. Live in the land that I have given to you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me.
- Jeremiah 25:5 The prophets told you, ‘Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and deeds, and you can dwell in the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers forever and ever.
- Zechariah 1:3 So tell the people that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Return to Me, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Hosts.’
- Acts 26:20 First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone in the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance.
- James 5:1 Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
- Isaiah 5:5 Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.