Jeremiah 7:16 (WEB)

Passage

“Therefore don’t pray for this people. Don’t lift up a cry or prayer for them or make intercession to me; for I will not hear 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 to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.

Jeremiah 7:15 I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, even the whole offspring of Ephraim.

Jeremiah 7:16 “Therefore don’t pray for this people. Don’t lift up a cry or prayer for them or make intercession to me; for I will not hear you.

Jeremiah 7:17 Don’t you see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

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 the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "intercession", "therefore", "pray", "people", "lift", "prayer", "make", and "hear". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "intercession" and "therefore", 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 "Don t you see what they do...", so "intercession" and "therefore" 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 "intercession" and "therefore" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.