Jeremiah 7:18 (DBY)

Passage

The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 7:16 And thou, pray not for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, and make not intercession to me; for I will not hear thee.

Jeremiah 7:17 Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?

Jeremiah 7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

Jeremiah 7:19 Is it I whom they provoke to anger? saith Jehovah; is it not themselves, to the shame of their own face?

Jeremiah 7:20 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place; upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "children", "gather", "wood", "fathers", "kindle", "fire", "women", and "knead". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "children" and "gather", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "Seest thou not what they do in..." into verse 19's "Is it I whom they provoke to...", so "children" and "gather" 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 "children" and "gather" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.