^7:21The Lord said to the people of Judah,⁴⁹ “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all⁵⁰ says: ‘You might as well go ahead and add the meat of your burnt offerings to that of the other sacrifices and eat it, too!⁵¹^7:22Consider this:⁵² When I spoke to your ancestors after I brought them out of Egypt, I did not merely give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices. ^7:23I also explicitly commanded them:⁵³ “Obey me. If you do, I⁵⁴ will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you⁵⁵ and things will go well with you.” ^7:24But they did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They followed the stubborn inclinations of their own wicked hearts. They acted worse and worse instead of better.⁵⁶^7:25From the time your ancestors departed the land of Egypt until now,⁵⁷ I sent my servants the prophets to you again and again,⁵⁸ day after day.⁵⁹^7:26But your ancestors⁶⁰ did not listen to me nor pay attention to me. They became obstinate⁶¹ and were more wicked than even their own forefathers.’ ”

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Footnotes

49 The words “The Lord said to the people of Judah” are not in the text but are implicit in the shift in addressee between vv. 16–20 and vv. 21–26.
50 Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See the study notes on and .
51 Heb “Add your burnt offerings to your [other] sacrifices and eat the meat!” See the following for explanation. This is an example of the rhetorical use of the imperative for a sarcastic challenge. Cf. §110.a; cf. Amos 4:4, “Go to Bethel and sin!” All of the burnt offering, including the meat, was to be consumed on the altar (e.g., Lev 1:6–9). The meat of the other sacrifices could be eaten by the priest who offered the sacrifice and the person who brought it (e.g., Lev 7:16–18, 32). Since, however, the people of Judah were making a mockery of the sacrificial system by offering sacrifices while disobeying the law, the Lord rejected the sacrifices (cf. 6:20). Since they were violating the moral law they might as well go ahead and violate the cultic law by eating the meat dedicated to God because he rejected it anyway.
52 Heb “For” but this introduces a long explanation about the relative importance of sacrifice and obedience.
53 Verses 22–23a read in Hebrew, “I did not speak with your ancestors and I did not command them when I brought them out of Egypt about words/matters concerning burnt offering and sacrifice, but I commanded them this word:” Some modern commentators have explained this passage as an evidence for the lateness of the Pentateuchal instruction regarding sacrifice or a denial that sacrifice was practiced during the period of the wilderness wandering. However, it is better explained as an example of what R. de Vaux calls a dialectical negative, i.e., “not so much this as that” or “not this without that” (Ancient Israel, 454–56). For other examples of this same argument see Isa 1:10–17; Hos 6:4–6; Amos 5:21–25.
54 Heb “Obey me and I will be.” The translation is equivalent syntactically but brings out the emphasis in the command.
55 Heb “Walk in all the way that I command you.”
56 Or “They went backward and not forward”; Heb “They were to the backward and not to the forward.” The two phrases used here appear nowhere else in the Bible and the latter preposition plus adverb elsewhere is used temporally meaning “formerly” or “previously.” The translation follows the proposal of J. Bright, Jeremiah (), 57. Another option is “they turned their backs to me, not their faces,” understanding the line as a variant of a line in 2:27.
57 Heb “from the day your ancestors … until this very day.” However, “day” here is idiomatic for “the present time.”
58 On the Hebrew idiom see the note at .
59 There is some textual debate about the legitimacy of this expression here. The text reads merely “day” (יוֹם, yom). suggests the word is to be deleted as a dittography of the plural ending of the preceding word. The word is in the Greek and Latin, and the represents the typical idiom “day after day” as though the noun were repeated. Either יוֹם has dropped out by haplography or a ם (mem) has been left out, i.e., reading יוֹמָם (yomam, “daily”).
60 Or “But your predecessors …”; Heb “But they.…” There is a confusing interchange in the pronouns in vv. 25–26 which has led to some leveling in the ancient versions and the modern English versions. What is involved here are four levels of referents, the “you” of the present generation (vv. 21–22a), the ancestors who were delivered from Egypt (i.e., the “they” of vv. 22b–24), the “you” of v. 25 which involves all the Israelites from the Exodus to the time of speaking, and the “they” of v. 26 which cannot be the ancestors of vv. 22–24 (since they cannot be more wicked than themselves) but must be an indefinite entity which is a part of the “you” of v. 25, i.e., the more immediate ancestors of the present generation. If this is kept in mind, there is no need to level the pronouns to “they” and “them” or to “you” and “your” as some of the ancient versions and modern English versions have done.
61 Heb “hardened [or made stiff] their neck.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“ ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their ancestors.’

CSBChristian Standard Bible

This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices, and eat the meat yourselves, for when I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak with them or command them concerning burnt offering and sacrifice. However, I did give them this command: ‘Obey me, and then I will be your God, and you will be my people. Follow every way I command you so that it may go well with you.’ Yet they didn’t listen or pay attention but followed their own advice and their own stubborn, evil heart. They went backward and not forward. Since the day your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until today, I have sent all my servants the prophets to you time and time again. However, my people wouldn’t listen to me or pay attention but became obstinate; they did more evil than their ancestors.

NLTNew Living Translation

This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Take your burnt offerings and your other sacrifices and eat them yourselves! When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I wanted from them. This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’

“But my people would not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward. From the day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have continued to send my servants, the prophets—day in and day out. But my people have not listened to me or even tried to hear. They have been stubborn and sinful—even worse than their ancestors.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For I did not speak with your ancestors, nor did I command them in the day of bringing them out from the land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt offering and sacrifice. But I only commanded them this word, saying, ‘Obey my voice, and I will be to you God, and you will be to me people, and you must walk in all of the way that I command you, so that it goes well with you.’ Yet they did not obey, and they did not incline their ear, but they walked in their own plans, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and they became worse instead of better. From the day that your ancestors came out from the land of Egypt until this day I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, day after day, sending again and again. Yet they have not listened to me and they have not inclined their ear, but they have hardened their neck, they did more evil than their ancestors.

KJV 1900King James Version

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh. For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: 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. 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. Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.

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