Jeremiah 7:18 (GNV)

Passage

The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knede the dough to make cakes to the Queene of heauen and to powre out drinke offrings vnto other gods, that they may prouoke me vnto anger.

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 7:16 Therfore thou shalt not pray for this people, neither lift vp crie or praier for them neither intreat me, for I will not heare thee.

Jeremiah 7:17 Seest thou not what they doe in the cities of Iudah and in the streetes of Ierusalem?

Jeremiah 7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knede the dough to make cakes to the Queene of heauen and to powre out drinke offrings vnto other gods, that they may prouoke me vnto anger.

Jeremiah 7:19 Doe they prouoke me to anger, sayeth the Lord, and not themselues to the confusion of their owne faces?

Jeremiah 7:20 Therefore thus sayeth the Lord God, Beholde, mine anger and my wrath shall be powred vpon this place, vpon man and vpon beast, and vpon the tree of the fielde, and vpon the fruite of the grounde, and it shall burne and not bee quenched.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "children", "gather", "wood", "fathers", "kindle", "fire", "women", and "knede". 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 doe in..." into verse 19's "Doe they prouoke me to anger sayeth...", 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.