Bible Strands
Jeremiah 23:11
“For both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD addresses Judah during a period of national moral collapse, positioned between warnings about a cursed land and pronouncements of coming disaster.
The words — חָנֵפוּ (cha.Ne.fu) translates literally as “they are polluted,” describing the moral state of the religious leaders. בֵּיתִי (be./vei.T/i) means “My house,” specifying the temple as the site where God discovered their corruption.
The thread — This indictment of compromised leadership runs parallel to Jeremiah 6:13, which notes prophets and priests practicing deceit, and Zephaniah 3:4, which condemns reckless prophets and priests who profane the sanctuary. The theme of defiled sacred space reappears in Matthew 21:12, where Jesus confronts commercial exploitation in the temple courts.
Why it lands — The text states that both prophets and priests are ungodly and that God found their wickedness within His own house. It requires readers to acknowledge that religious office carries no protection from divine judgment and that corruption inside sacred spaces is directly accountable to God.
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
For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 6:13 “For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.
- Zephaniah 3:4 Her prophets are reckless, faithless men. Her priests profane the sanctuary; they do violence to the law.
- Matthew 21:12 Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.
- Jeremiah 32:34 They have placed their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it.
- Ezekiel 23:39 On the very day they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary to profane it. Yes, they did this inside My house.
- 2 Chronicles 36:14 Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, following all the abominations of the nations, and they defiled the house of the LORD, which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 7:10 and then come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, ‘We are delivered, so we can continue with all these abominations’?
- Jeremiah 7:30 For the people of Judah have done evil in My sight, declares the LORD. They have set up their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it.
- Jeremiah 8:10 Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.
- Jeremiah 11:15 What right has My beloved in My house, having carried out so many evil schemes? Can consecrated meat avert your doom? When you are wicked, then you rejoice.