Bible Strands
Jeremiah 6:20
What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through Jeremiah to declare imminent disaster on a people who rejected His instruction. The words — The Hebrew לָ/מָּה־ (la./mah-) literally means "why?" or "what use?", and לְבוֹנָה֙ (le.vo.Nah) translates to "frankincense." The thread — This rejection of ritual offerings parallels Isaiah 1:11, Amos 5:21, and Micah 6:6, where God similarly declares His sacrifices and feasts unacceptable. Why it lands — The text demands that readers accept external worship cannot substitute for obedience to God's word.
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
To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 1:11 “What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?” says the LORD. “I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
- Amos 5:21 “I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.
- Micah 6:6 With what shall I come before the LORD when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves?
- Psalms 40:6 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require.
- Exodus 30:23 “Take the finest spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half that amount (250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane,
- Psalms 50:7 “Hear, O My people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God.
- Isaiah 43:23 You have not brought Me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, nor wearied you with frankincense.
- Isaiah 60:6 Caravans of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah, and all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and frankincense and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.
- Isaiah 66:3 Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man; whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood; whoever offers frankincense is like one who blesses an idol. Indeed, they have chosen their own ways and delighted in their abominations.
- Jeremiah 7:21 This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves!