Bible Strands
Jeremiah 35:17
Therefore this is what the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will bring to Judah and to all the residents of Jerusalem all the disaster I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them but they have not obeyed, and I have called to them but they have not answered.’”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah delivers this declaration from the LORD to Judah and Jerusalem immediately after contrasting their refusal to listen with the Rechabites' strict adherence to their forefather's command.
The words — The Hebrew לָכֵן (lakhen) renders "therefore" and כֹּה (koh) means "thus," anchoring the pronouncement as a direct logical consequence of the preceding disobedience.
The thread — The motif of divine calling met with silence recurs in Isaiah 65:12, Isaiah 66:4, and Jeremiah 7:13, where unheeded prophetic warnings precede enacted judgment.
Why it lands — The text records God's stated reason for bringing pronounced disaster: repeated verbal warnings were explicitly ignored by the people. A reader must confront the direct link between unheeded speech and the resulting consequences.
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
Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 66:4 So I will choose their punishment and I will bring terror upon them, because I called and no one answered, I spoke and no one listened. But they did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.”
- Isaiah 65:12 I will destine you for the sword, and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen; you did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.”
- Jeremiah 7:13 And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but you would not answer,
- Romans 10:21 But as for Israel he says: “All day long I have held out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”
- Proverbs 16:2 All a man’s ways are pure in his own eyes, but his motives are weighed out by the LORD.
- Luke 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!
- Joshua 23:15 But just as every good thing the LORD your God promised you has come to pass, likewise the LORD will bring upon you the calamity He has threatened, until He has destroyed you from this good land He has given you.
- Proverbs 1:24 Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,
- Proverbs 13:13 He who despises instruction will pay the penalty, but the one who respects a command will be rewarded.
- Isaiah 50:2 Why was no one there when I arrived? Why did no one answer when I called? Is My hand too short to redeem you? Or do I lack the strength to deliver you? Behold, My rebuke dries up the sea; I turn the rivers into a desert; the fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst.