Jeremiah 5:4

5:4 I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way.

They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands.

They do not know what their God requires of them.

Jeremiah 10:14

10:14 All these idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant.

Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made.

For the image he forges is merely a sham.

There is no breath in any of those idols.

Jeremiah 51:17

51:17 All idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant.

Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made.

For the image he forges is merely a sham.

There is no breath in any of those idols.


tn Heb “Surely they are poor.” The translation is intended to make clear the explicit contrasts and qualifications drawn in this verse and the next.

tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”

tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”

tn Heb “Every man.” But in the context this is not a reference to all people without exception but to all idolaters. The referent is made explicit for the sake of clarity.

tn Or “nothing but a phony god”; Heb “a lie/falsehood.”

tn Heb “There is no breath in them.” The referent is made explicit so that no one will mistakenly take it to refer to the idolaters or goldsmiths.