Jeremiah 7:16 (LSB)

Passage

“As for you, do not pray for this people and do not lift up a cry of lamentation or prayer for them and do not intercede with Me, for I am not hearing you.

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 7:14 therefore, I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.

Jeremiah 7:15 I will cast you out of My presence, as I have cast out all your brothers, all the seed of Ephraim.

Jeremiah 7:16 “As for you, do not pray for this people and do not lift up a cry of lamentation or prayer for them and do not intercede with Me, for I am not hearing you.

Jeremiah 7:17 Are you not seeing what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

Jeremiah 7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers make the fire burn, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to provoke Me.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "pray", "people", "lift", "lamentation", "prayer", "intercede", and "hearing". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "pray" and "people", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "I will cast you out of My..." into verse 17's "Are you not seeing what they are...", so "pray" and "people" 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 "pray" and "people" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.