Jeremiah 7:18 (YLT)

Passage

The sons are gathering wood, And the fathers are causing the fire to burn, And the women are kneading dough, To make cakes to the queen of the heavens, And to pour out libations to other gods, So as to provoke Me to anger.

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 7:16 And thou dost not pray for this people, Nor lift up for them crying and prayer, Nor intercede with Me, for I hear thee not.

Jeremiah 7:17 Art thou not seeing what they are doing In cities of Judah, and in streets of Jerusalem?

Jeremiah 7:18 The sons are gathering wood, And the fathers are causing the fire to burn, And the women are kneading dough, To make cakes to the queen of the heavens, And to pour out libations to other gods, So as to provoke Me to anger.

Jeremiah 7:19 Me are they provoking to anger? an affirmation of Jehovah, Is it not themselves, For the shame of their own faces?

Jeremiah 7:20 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah, Lo, Mine anger and My fury is poured out on this place, On man, and beast, and on tree of the field, And on fruit of the ground, And it hath burned, and it is not quenched.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sons", "gathering", "wood", "fathers", "causing", "fire", "burn", and "women". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sons" and "gathering", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "Art thou not seeing what they are..." into verse 19's "Me are they provoking to anger an...", so "sons" and "gathering" 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 "sons" and "gathering" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.