Read & explore together
The LORD Answers Jeremiah
In this passage, Yahweh answers Jeremiah directly. He first states his power over all flesh, then explains why Jerusalem will be handed over. The passage is prophecy and teaching that names both God’s authority and Judah’s guilt.
Understanding the passage
The setting of this message
These verses present Yahweh’s word to Jeremiah. The passage stays focused on what Yahweh says about the city, the Chaldeans, the people’s actions, and the reasons for coming judgement. It does not invite us to invent extra scenes, but to listen carefully to the charges and explanation given here.
Jeremiah 32:26–35Main takeaway
Yahweh declares that Jerusalem’s coming judgement is connected to the people’s persistent rejection of him and their defiling worship practices.
Explore the message
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01Yahweh’s opening claimThe message begins with Yahweh identifying himself as “the God of all flesh” and asking whether anything is too hard for him.
Explanation
The message begins with Yahweh identifying himself as “the God of all flesh” and asking whether anything is too hard for him. This does not yet remove the coming judgement. Instead, it frames the whole passage by showing that Yahweh has full authority to do what he says next.
02The city will be given overYahweh says the city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans and Nebuchadnezzar, and that it will be taken.
Explanation
Yahweh says the city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans and Nebuchadnezzar, and that it will be taken. He also says the city will be burned, including houses where people offered incense to Baal and drink offerings to other gods. The judgement is linked to specific acts of false worship.
03A long pattern of evilYahweh says the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done evil from their youth and have provoked him with the work of their hands.
Explanation
Yahweh says the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done evil from their youth and have provoked him with the work of their hands. He says this city has stirred his anger from the day it was built, and that many groups share responsibility, including kings, princes, priests, prophets, and inhabitants.
04They refused instruction and defiled worshipYahweh says the people turned their backs to him, not their faces. Though he taught them, they did not listen or receive instruction.
Explanation
Yahweh says the people turned their backs to him, not their faces. Though he taught them, they did not listen or receive instruction. He also says they placed abominations in the house called by his name and built high places to Baal, causing Judah to sin through acts Yahweh did not command.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What does Yahweh’s question about being the God of all flesh help us notice before he speaks about the city?
Look at how Jeremiah 32:27 introduces Yahweh’s power before the announcement of what will happen in Jeremiah 32:28.
02Which actions in the passage are named as reasons for the city’s burning?
List the worship practices and abominations that are specifically described, rather than giving a general answer.
03How does Yahweh describe the people’s response to his teaching?
Use the wording about turning their backs, not listening, and not receiving instruction.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Jeremiah 32:26–35
26Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying,
27“Behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me?
28Therefore Yahweh says: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it.
29The Chaldeans, who fight against this city, will come and set this city on fire, and burn it with the houses on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal, and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.
30“For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only that which was evil in my sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, says Yahweh.
31For this city has been to me a provocation of my anger and of my wrath from the day that they built it even to this day, so that I should remove it from before my face,
32because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger—they, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
33They have turned their backs to me, and not their faces. Although I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction.
34But they set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.
35They built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through fire to Molech, which I didn’t command them. It didn’t even come into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.”