Jeremiah 7:19 (WEB)

Passage

Do they provoke me to anger?” says Yahweh. “Don’t they provoke themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?”

Nearby Context

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.

Jeremiah 7:19 Do they provoke me to anger?” says Yahweh. “Don’t they provoke themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?”

Jeremiah 7:20 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man, on animal, on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and will not be quenched.”

Jeremiah 7:21 Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "provoke", "anger", "says", "yahweh", "themselves", "confusion", and "faces". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "provoke" and "anger", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 18's "The children gather wood and the fathers..." into verse 20's "Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh Behold...", so "provoke" and "anger" 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 "provoke" and "anger" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.