Bible Strands
Jeremiah 7:23
but this is what I commanded them: Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that it may go well with you.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks through Jeremiah to the assembled congregation at the temple in Jerusalem, correcting their assumption that sacrificial ritual alone secures their standing before Him.
The words — צִוִּיתִי (tsivi'ti, "I commanded") is the hinge: the same verb that anchors the covenant formulas in Exodus and Deuteronomy, here deployed to say that obedience—not offerings—was the original and sole demand. The preceding אִם ('im, "except") functions as a subtractive pivot, stripping everything else away before naming the one thing that remains.
The thread — The "obey and I will be your God, and you will be My people" formula recurs in Exodus 19:5 and Deuteronomy 5:33, where it is paired with the promise of prosperity for covenant faithfulness.
Why it lands — The verse removes the option of treating religious performance as a substitute for actual compliance; what God requires is directional obedience, not ritual output.
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
But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
Cross-references
- Exodus 15:26 saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”
- Deuteronomy 5:33 You must walk in all the ways that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.
- Exodus 19:5 Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
- Jeremiah 42:6 Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God!”
- Hebrews 5:9 And having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him
- Deuteronomy 6:3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you.
- Deuteronomy 13:4 You are to follow the LORD your God and fear Him. Keep His commandments and listen to His voice; serve Him and hold fast to Him.
- Deuteronomy 30:20 and that you may love the LORD your God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
- Jeremiah 11:4 which I commanded your forefathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey Me, and do everything I command you, and you will be My people, and I will be your God.’
- Deuteronomy 5:29 If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever.