Jeremiah 7:20 (DRB)

Passage

Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold my wrath and my indignation is enkindled against this place, upon men and upon beasts, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruits of the land, and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to offer libations to strange gods, and to provoke me to anger.

Jeremiah 7:19 Do they provoke me to anger, saith the Lord? is it not themselves, to the confusion of their own countenance?

Jeremiah 7:20 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold my wrath and my indignation is enkindled against this place, upon men and upon beasts, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruits of the land, and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.

Jeremiah 7:21 Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat ye the flesh.

Jeremiah 7:22 For I spoke not to your fathers, and I commanded them not, in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "therefore", "thus", "saith", "lord", "behold", "wrath", "indignation", and "enkindled". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "therefore" and "thus", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "Do they provoke me to anger saith..." into verse 21's "Thus saith the Lord of hosts the...", so "therefore" and "thus" 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 "therefore" and "thus" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.