Jeremiah 7:26 (KJV)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

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.

Jeremiah 7:27 Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.

Jeremiah 7:28 But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hearkened", "inclined", "hardened", "neck", "worse", "than", and "fathers". 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 25's "Since the day that your fathers came..." into verse 27's "Therefore thou shalt speak all these words...", 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.