Jeremiah 18 15

Jeremiah 18:15 kjv

Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;

Jeremiah 18:15 nkjv

"Because My people have forgotten Me, They have burned incense to worthless idols. And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk in pathways and not on a highway,

Jeremiah 18:15 niv

Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths. They made them walk in byways, on roads not built up.

Jeremiah 18:15 esv

But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway,

Jeremiah 18:15 nlt

But my people are not so reliable, for they have deserted me;
they burn incense to worthless idols.
They have stumbled off the ancient highways
and walk in muddy paths.

Jeremiah 18 verses

Jeremiah 18 15 Meaning

Jeremiah 18:15 declares Judah's profound apostasy. It describes how God's chosen people have deliberately forsaken Him, their rightful Lord, choosing instead to offer worship to deities that are utterly empty and valueless. This turning away from God has caused them to deviate from the established, safe, and righteous paths that He ordained, leading them instead down dangerous, untrodden byways, entirely abandoning the well-built and secure road of His covenant.

Jeremiah 18 15 Context

Jeremiah 18 opens with God sending Jeremiah to the potter's house (vv. 1-4), illustrating God's sovereign right to shape or reshape nations like clay. Just as a potter can destroy a flawed vessel and remold it, God has the power to bless or bring judgment upon a nation based on its response to Him (vv. 7-10). If a nation repents, God will relent from planned judgment; if it persists in evil, God will execute His declared intentions. In verses 11-12, God explicitly calls Judah to "turn now, everyone from his evil way, and make your ways and your deeds good." Their defiant response is, "It is useless! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart." This declaration of rebellion sets the immediate stage for Jeremiah 18:15, where God laments their complete rejection of Him and their path to destruction. The verse also hints at the shocking nature of Judah's sin, comparing it to phenomena unheard of even in nature, preceding Jeremiah's prophetic message of the coming judgment from a "north wind" (v. 17).

Jeremiah 18 15 Word analysis

• יָם֙ (Yam) - "Yet" / "Indeed" / "Nevertheless." This word acts as an adversative or emphatic particle, highlighting the shocking contrast. Despite God's warnings and His patient dealing, this is the profound state of His people.
• וַיִּשְׁכְּח֙וּ (vayyishkheḥū) - "And they have forgotten." From the root shakach (שָׁכַח), meaning to forget, ignore, or neglect. This is not mere intellectual amnesia but a moral and spiritual failure—an active disregard and intentional abandonment of their covenant relationship with God and His past deeds and commands.
• אוֹתִ֔י (ʾotî) - "Me." The direct object marker, coupled with the first-person singular pronominal suffix, intensely emphasizes God Himself as the one being forgotten. It underscores the personal betrayal involved in their apostasy.
• עַמִּֽי (ʿammî) - "My people." The possessive suffix ("my") here makes the act of forgetting all the more grievous. They are "My people," bound to God by a covenant of grace and election, yet they betray this relationship. This title underscores their unique identity and privileges, making their failure inexcusable.
• יְקַטְּר֣וּ (yeqaṭṭěrû) - "They burn incense." From the root qatar (קָטַר), referring to the act of burning offerings, often aromatic, usually to Yahweh as an act of worship. Here, the verb implies an active, dedicated ritual worship, but grotesquely directed towards false gods.
• לַשָּׁוְא֙ (lashshāwəʾ) - "To worthlessness" / "to vanity" / "to emptiness." From shav (שָׁוְא), which means emptiness, futility, deceit, or falsehood. It emphasizes the absolute nullity and lack of substance of the idols and the pagan deities they worshiped. This stands in stark contrast to the living God they forgot.
• וַיַּכְשִׁלּ֞וּם (vayyakšillûm) - "And they have caused themselves to stumble" / "they stumbled." Hiphil imperfect of kashal (כָּשַׁל), meaning to stumble, falter, or fall. The Hiphil here suggests either active causation—they made themselves stumble, or a direct result of their choices. It depicts a spiritual downfall, a loss of firm footing on the right path.
• בִּדְרָכֵימָ֗ם (bidhrāḵêhem) - "From their ways." Derekh (דֶּרֶךְ) signifies a way, road, or course of life. This indicates deviation from the proper "ways"—the moral, ethical, and religious practices ordained by God. The preposition "from" denotes departure.
• מִנְּתִיב֣וֹת (minnətîvōṯ) - "From paths." From nətîḇâ (נְתִיבָה), meaning a beaten path, a well-trodden way. This often refers to established and safe roads, implying the divinely prescribed, known, and reliable paths of obedience and righteousness. The use of the plural accentuates the multiplicity of righteous ways they abandoned.
• שְׁבִלֵי (shvilê) - "Bypaths" / "untrodden paths." Shəḇîl (שְׁבִיל) denotes a narrow, rough, unused, or barely marked track. These are perilous and lead nowhere good, symbolizing moral error and spiritual danger.
• לְלֶ֥כֶת (lalekhet) - "To walk." An infinitive, describing the manner of their movement and life.
• לֹא־ (lōʾ) - "Not." A direct negation.
• מְסִלָּֽה׃ (mesillâ) - "A built road" / "highway." Məsillâ (מְסִלָּה) refers to a cleared, elevated, well-engineered road or highway. It is a symbol of directness, safety, and God's clear, unambiguous instructions for righteous living. Its absence underscores the dangerous and circuitous nature of their chosen paths.

Word-Group Analysis

• "My people have forgotten Me": This phrase highlights the covenant breach. God, who chose, redeemed, and sustained them, is actively disregarded by His own. It's not an accident but a conscious act of spiritual rebellion.
• "they burn incense to worthless idols": This clarifies how they forgot God. Their worship, meant for the true God, was redirected to shav (empty, vain, non-existent) entities. This is the essence of idolatry—replacing the living God with nothingness.
• "they have stumbled from their ways, from the ancient roads": The double mention of "ways" (drakhim) and "paths" (nətîvōṯ) emphasizes a complete departure. "Ancient roads" (similar to derekh 'olam in other texts) points to the long-established, proven, and divinely sanctioned ways of their forefathers, embedded in the Mosaic covenant. Their abandonment signifies a rejection of their spiritual heritage.
• "to walk on bypaths, not on a built road": This contrasts the dangerous, undefined "bypaths" (shəvilim) with the safe, clearly marked "built road" (məsillâ). Their chosen trajectory is hazardous, deviates from truth, and leads to destruction, unlike the highway of God's commands which offers security and true destination.

Jeremiah 18 15 Bonus section

The Hebrew terms derekh (way), nətîḇâ (path), shəḇîl (bypath), and məsillâ (highway) are often used metaphorically in Scripture to describe a person's course of life, moral conduct, or adherence to God's will. Jeremiah's deliberate use of these varied terms in quick succession here provides a nuanced and strong imagery of the people's total departure from righteousness. They haven't merely strayed slightly; they've abandoned the very concept of a divinely guided, built-up path for fragmented, dangerous wanderings. The verse thus represents a complete moral and spiritual landscape inversion. The irony is poignant: they claim their "own plans" and "stubbornness" (Jer 18:12), thinking themselves wise, yet end up on paths of peril and futility, entirely forsaking true wisdom.

Jeremiah 18 15 Commentary

Jeremiah 18:15 stands as a poignant lament and stark accusation against Judah's deep-seated apostasy. It encapsulates their spiritual decline through three interconnected failures: forgetfulness, idolatry, and deviation. Forgetting God (שָׁכַח, shakach) is not mere amnesia, but a profound ethical and theological disregard, an active negligence of the covenant Lord and His commands. This spiritual amnesia directly manifested in their worship of "worthless idols" (לַשָּׁוְא, lashshāwəʾ), highlighting the futility and emptiness of the false deities contrasted with the true, living God they abandoned. Their active, dedicated worship through incense offerings was tragically misdirected.

The consequence of this double sin (forgetting God and embracing idolatry) was a radical shift in their ethical and moral trajectory. They "stumbled" (kashal) from the established, ancient, and righteous paths (דְּרָכִים, drakhim and נְתִיבֹת, nətîvōṯ). These were the well-trodden, reliable "highways" (מְסִלָּה, mesillâ) of obedience to God's law and the wisdom of their forebears. Instead, they chose to walk on "bypaths" (שְׁבִילִים, shəvilim)—unmarked, treacherous, and leading nowhere. This vividly illustrates the biblical principle that deviating from God's truth inevitably leads to moral confusion, spiritual peril, and ultimately, self-destruction. The verse underscores God's personal pain over "My people's" (עַמִּֽי, ʿammî) betrayal and serves as a powerful warning against spiritual negligence and the lure of perceived alternatives to divine truth.