Jeremiah 23:39

therefore I will surely forget you and will cast you out of My presence, both you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Yahweh addresses false prophets and priests who have repeatedly claimed, “This is the burden of the LORD,” despite His explicit command to stop. He pronounces judgment on them and the ancestral city at this moment of covenant rebellion.

The words — The Hebrew נָטַשְׁתִּי (na.tash.Ti) literally means “I will abandon,” combined with נָשֹׂא (na.Sho’), “lift up,” to describe casting out of divine presence. לָכֵן (la./Khen) functions as “therefore,” marking the declaration as a direct consequence of their prior disobedience.

The thread — The text records divine expulsion and forsaking in Jeremiah 23:39, which parallels Ezekiel 8:18 where God refuses pity despite loud cries, and echoes the flood judgment in Genesis 6:17. It also continues the warning from Jeremiah 23:33 against exploiting prophetic language for personal authority.

Why it lands — The verse states that presumptive claims to divine speech result in removal from God’s presence and loss of inherited land. It requires readers to reject manipulative religious language and submit to authentic revelation without assuming covenant security.

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

לָכֵ֣ןla./Khen<to>/ therefore הִנְנִ֔יhi./Nihere [am]/ I וְנָשִׁ֥יתִיve./na.Shi.tiand/ I will surely <forget>אֶתְכֶ֖ם'et./Khem<obj.>/ you נָשֹׁ֑אna.Sho'lift up וְנָטַשְׁתִּ֣יve./na.tash.Tiand/ I will abandon אֶתְכֶ֗ם'et./Khem<obj.>/ you וְאֶת־ve./'Etand/ <obj.>הָעִיר֙ha./'Irthe/ city אֲשֶׁ֨ר'a.Sherwhich נָתַ֧תִּיna.Ta.tiI gaveלָכֶ֛םla./Khemto/ youוְלַאֲבוֹתֵיכֶ֖םve./la./'a.vo.tei./Khemand/ to/ ancestors/ your מֵעַ֥לme./'Alfrom/ on פָּנָֽי׃pa.Na/iface/ my

King James Version

Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:

Cross-references

Jeremiah 23:33 “Now when this people or a prophet or priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ you are to say to them, ‘What burden? I will forsake you, declares the LORD.’
Ezekiel 8:18 Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”
Genesis 6:17 And behold, I will bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy every creature under the heavens that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will perish.
Leviticus 26:28 then I will walk in fury against you, and I, even I, will punish you sevenfold for your sins.
Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
Psalms 51:11 Cast me not away from Your presence; take not Your Holy Spirit from me.
Proverbs 13:13 He who despises instruction will pay the penalty, but the one who respects a command will be rewarded.
Isaiah 48:15 I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him. I have brought him, and he will succeed in his mission.
Isaiah 51:12 “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?
Jeremiah 7:15 And I will cast you out of My presence, just as I have cast out all your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.