Jeremiah 7:9 (ASV)

Passage

Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods that ye have not known,

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 7:7 then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even for evermore.

Jeremiah 7:8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

Jeremiah 7:9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods that ye have not known,

Jeremiah 7:10 and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered; that ye may do all these abominations?

Jeremiah 7:11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, saith Jehovah.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "steal", "murder", "commit", "adultery", "swear", "falsely", "burn", and "incense". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "steal" and "murder", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "Behold ye trust in lying words that..." into verse 10's "and come and stand before me in...", so "steal" and "murder" 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 "steal" and "murder" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.