Jeremiah 23:12

“Therefore their path will become slick; they will be driven away into the darkness and fall into it. For I will bring disaster upon them in the year of their punishment,” declares the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The LORD speaks through Jeremiah to Judah, directly addressing the corrupt prophet and priest class condemned in the preceding verse. This declaration is issued during a period of widespread apostasy when religious leaders were actively misleading the nation.

The words — The Hebrew כַּחֲלַקְלַקּוֹת (kaḥălaqḵalāqōṯ) literally means "slippery places," and יִדָּחוּ (yiddāḥû) translates to "they will be pushed down." These terms describe the physical mechanics of the judgment: loss of footing followed by forced displacement into darkness.

The thread — The motif of a dark, slick path appears in Psalm 35:6 and Proverbs 4:19 to depict the sudden collapse and hidden peril of the wicked. Jeremiah 13:16 reinforces this warning by urging Israel to honor God before darkness causes their feet to stumble.

Why it lands — The text requires acknowledgment that moral corruption guarantees inescapable judgment and spiritual blindness. It demands that a reader accept divine punishment as the direct, inevitable result of choosing a path that rejects God's authority.

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

לָכֵן֩la./Khen<to>/ therefore יִֽהְיֶ֨הyih.Yehit will become דַרְכָּ֜םdar.Ka/mpath/ theirלָהֶ֗םla./Hemfor <the>/ themכַּחֲלַקְלַקּוֹת֙ka./cha.lak.la.kOtlike/ slippery places בָּֽאֲפֵלָ֔הba./'a.fe.Lahin the/ darkness יִדַּ֖חוּyi.Da.chuthey will be pushed down וְנָ֣פְלוּve./Na.fe.luand/ they will fallבָ֑הּVa/hon <the>/ itכִּֽי־ki-for אָבִ֨יא'a.Vi'I will bring עֲלֵיהֶ֥ם'a.lei./Hemon/ them רָעָ֛הra.'Ahcalamity שְׁנַ֥תshe.Nat[the] year of פְּקֻדָּתָ֖םpe.ku.da.Ta/mpunishment/ their נְאֻם־ne.'um-[the] utterance of יְהוָֽה׃Yah.wehYahweh

King James Version

Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 13:16 Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.
Psalms 35:6 May their path be dark and slick, as the angel of the LORD pursues.
Proverbs 4:19 But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.
Jeremiah 11:23 There will be no remnant, for I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.”
Exodus 32:34 Now go, lead the people to the place I described. Behold, My angel shall go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will punish them for their sin.”
Psalms 73:18 Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin.
Isaiah 8:22 Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.
Jeremiah 48:44 “Whoever flees the panic will fall into the pit, and whoever climbs from the pit will be caught in the snare. For I will bring upon Moab the year of their punishment,” declares the LORD.
John 12:35 Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.
Job 18:18 He is driven from light into darkness and is chased from the inhabited world.