Jeremiah 7:24 (KJV)

Passage

But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 7:22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:

Jeremiah 7:23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

Jeremiah 7:24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

Jeremiah 7:25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:

Jeremiah 7:26 Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hearkened", "inclined", "walked", "counsels", "imagination", "evil", "heart", and "went". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hearkened" and "inclined", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 23's "But this thing commanded I them saying..." into verse 25's "Since the day that your fathers came...", so "hearkened" and "inclined" 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 "hearkened" and "inclined" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.