Bible Strands
Jeremiah 8:5
Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jeremiah speaks as the LORD's messenger to Judah and Jerusalem, posing rhetorical questions that highlight their unexplained persistence in rebellion despite the natural expectation of recovery after falling.
The words — The Hebrew מְשֻׁבָ֣ה (me.shu.Vah) names a state of apostasy, while נִצַּ֑חַת (ni.Tza.chat) modifies it to indicate an enduring condition that the people actively maintain with הֶחֱזִ֙יקוּ֙ (he.che.Zi.ku), "they have kept hold."
The thread — The same unyielding refusal to return appears in Jeremiah 5:3, where the struck feel no pain, Jeremiah 9:6, which condemns dwelling in deceit, and Zechariah 7:11, which describes a hardened shoulder and stopped ears.
Why it lands — The verse plainly records the people's active choice to cling to deceit and reject return, requiring the reader to identify where they are similarly refusing to repent despite clear warning.
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
Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 9:6 You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 5:3 O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.
- Zechariah 7:11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.
- Hosea 11:7 My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call to the Most High, He will by no means exalt them.
- John 5:40 yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.
- Hebrews 12:25 See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven?
- Isaiah 30:10 They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.
- Isaiah 44:20 He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
- Jeremiah 5:27 Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,