12 And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:
Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
And the LORD smelled a sweet savor; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin:
Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 16
Commentary on Jeremiah 16 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 16
In this chapter,
Jer 16:1-9
The prophet is here for a sign to the people. They would not regard what he said; let it be tried whether they will regard what he does. In general, he must conduct himself so, in every thing, as became one that expected to see his country in ruins very shortly. This he foretold, but few regarded the prediction; therefore he is to show that he is himself fully satisfied in the truth of it. Others go on in their usual course, but he, in the prospect of these sad times, is forbidden and therefore forbears marriage, mourning for the dead, and mirth. Note, Those that would convince others of and affect them with the word of God must make it appear, even in the most self-denying instances, that they do believe it themselves and are affected with it. If we would rouse others out of their security, and persuade them to sit loose to the world, we must ourselves be mortified to present things and show that we expect the dissolution of them.
Jer 16:10-13
Here is,
Jer 16:14-21
There is a mixture of mercy and judgment in these verses, and it is hard to know to which to apply some of the passages here-they are so interwoven, and some seem to look as far forward as the times of the gospel.