Bible Strands
Jeremiah 23:17
They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD says that you will have peace,’ and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through Jeremiah to confront false prophets who address those who despise Him and walk in the stubbornness of their own hearts. These speakers operate outside God’s council, delivering visions from their own minds rather than from the mouth of the LORD.
The words — The text highlights אֹמְרִ֤ים ('o.me.Rim), meaning “[they are] saying,” and שָׁל֖וֹם (sha.Lom), meaning “peace,” to record the prophets’ repetitive claim of safety for the rebellious.
The thread — The denial of impending judgment appears in Amos 9:10 where sinners claim disaster will never draw near, and in Micah 3:11 where prophets practice divination for gain. The refusal to heed God’s word and the pursuit of stubborn hearts align with the description of evil people in Jeremiah 13:10.
Why it lands — The passage demands a reader to distinguish between messages that originate from God’s council and those fabricated by human rebellion. It requires immediate rejection of any claim that guarantees peace or denies harm to those who actively despise the LORD.
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
They say still unto them that despise me, The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
Cross-references
- Micah 3:11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”
- Jeremiah 13:10 These evil people, who refuse to listen to My words, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who go after other gods to serve and worship them, they will be like this loincloth—of no use at all.
- Amos 9:10 All the sinners among My people will die by the sword—all those who say, ‘Disaster will never draw near or confront us.’”
- Deuteronomy 29:19 because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.
- Jeremiah 5:12 They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine.
- Jeremiah 8:11 They dress the wound of the daughter of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all.
- Jeremiah 9:14 Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.”
- Micah 3:5 This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their mouths:
- Numbers 11:20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and makes you nauseous—because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have cried out before Him, saying, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’”
- Jeremiah 3:17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations will be gathered in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. They will no longer follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.