Jeremiah 7:24 (WEB)

Passage

But they didn’t listen or turn their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 7:22 For I didn’t speak to your fathers or command 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 I commanded them, saying, ‘Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’

Jeremiah 7:24 But they didn’t listen or turn their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

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

Jeremiah 7:26 Yet they didn’t listen to me or incline their ear, but made their neck stiff. They did worse than their fathers.

Study Lenses

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

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