Jeremiah 7:29 (ASV)

Passage

Cut off thy hair, [O Jerusalem], and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for Jehovah hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 7:27 And thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.

Jeremiah 7:28 And thou shalt say unto them, This is the nation that hath not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah their God, nor received instruction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

Jeremiah 7:29 Cut off thy hair, [O Jerusalem], and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for Jehovah hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

Jeremiah 7:30 For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight, saith Jehovah: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.

Jeremiah 7:31 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded not, neither came it into my mind.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hair", "jerusalem", "cast", "away", "take", "lamentation", "bare", and "heights". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hair" and "jerusalem", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 28's "And thou shalt say unto them This..." into verse 30's "For the children of Judah have done...", so "hair" and "jerusalem" belong inside that flow. In Jeremiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "hair" and "jerusalem" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.