Bible Strands
Jeremiah 5:19
And when the people ask, ‘For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ You are to tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah instructs a messenger on how to respond when the people question God's judgments during a period of national crisis. This directive is placed between God's promise of partial preservation in Jeremiah 5:18 and the command to proclaim these matters throughout Judah in Jeremiah 5:20.
The words — The Hebrew verb עָשָׂה ('a.Sah) means "did he do" and anchors the people's complaint, while the interrogative מֶה (Meh) translates literally as "what?" to frame their inquiry. The conjunction וְ/הָיָה (ve./ha.Yah) establishes the conditional timing of this future questioning.
The thread — The pattern of conquered populations asking why God brought ruin appears in 1 Kings 9:8 regarding the temple and Jeremiah 22:8 regarding Jerusalem. The underlying cause aligns with the covenant warning in Deuteronomy 28:47 that failure to serve God properly triggers national consequences.
Why it lands — The text states that the people's suffering results directly from forsaking God and serving foreign gods, and that they will consequently serve foreigners in a foreign land. It requires the reader to accept this cause-and-effect sequence as factual rather than arbitrary.
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
And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the Lord our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 9:8 And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’
- Deuteronomy 28:47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,
- Jeremiah 22:8 And many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?’
- Jeremiah 13:22 And if you ask yourself, “Why has this happened to me?” It is because of the magnitude of your iniquity that your skirts have been stripped off and your body has been exposed.
- Jeremiah 16:13 So I will cast you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known. There you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’
- Deuteronomy 29:24 So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’
- Jeremiah 16:10 When you tell these people all these things, they will ask you, ‘Why has the LORD pronounced all this great disaster against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?’
- Deuteronomy 4:25 After you have children and grandchildren and you have been in the land a long time, if you then act corruptly and make an idol of any form—doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and provoking Him to anger—
- 2 Chronicles 7:21 And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’
- Jeremiah 2:13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.