Jeremiah 18:15
New International Version
Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths. They made them walk in byways, on roads not built up.

New Living Translation
But my people are not so reliable, for they have deserted me; they burn incense to worthless idols. They have stumbled off the ancient highways and walk in muddy paths.

English Standard Version
But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway,

Berean Standard Bible
Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway.

King James Bible
Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;

New King James Version
“Because My people have forgotten Me, They have burned incense to worthless idols. And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk in pathways and not on a highway,

New American Standard Bible
‘For My people have forgotten Me, They burn incense to worthless gods. And they have stumbled in their ways, In the ancient roads, To walk on paths, Not on a highway,

NASB 1995
‘For My people have forgotten Me, They burn incense to worthless gods And they have stumbled from their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk in bypaths, Not on a highway,

NASB 1977
‘For My people have forgotten Me, They burn incense to worthless gods And they have stumbled from their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk in bypaths, Not on a highway,

Legacy Standard Bible
For My people have forgotten Me; They burn incense to worthless gods, And they have stumbled from their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk in bypaths, Not on a highway,

Amplified Bible
‘Yet My people have forgotten Me; They burn incense to worthless gods, They have stumbled from their ways From the ancient roads, To walk in pathways, Not on a highway,

Christian Standard Bible
Yet my people have forgotten me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways on the ancient roads, and make them walk on new paths, not the highway.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to false idols that make them stumble in their ways on the ancient roads and walk on new paths, not the highway.

American Standard Version
For my people have forgotten me, they have burned incense to false gods; and they have been made to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk in bypaths, in a way not cast up;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Because my people have forsaken me, and they offered incense to nothingness, and are subverted in their ways, in the ancient paths, to go in paths, in a way that was not trodden

Brenton Septuagint Translation
For my people have forgotten me, they have offered incense in vain, and they fail in their ways, leaving the ancient tracks, to enter upon impassable paths;

Contemporary English Version
But you, my people, have turned from me to burn incense to worthless idols. You have left the ancient road to follow an unknown path where you stumble over idols.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Because my people have forgotten me, sacrificing in vain, and stumbling in their ways, in ancient paths, to walk by them in a way not trodden:

English Revised Version
For my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity; and they have caused them to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk in bypaths, in a way not cast up;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
But my people have forgotten me. They burn incense as an offering to worthless idols, and they stumble along the way, on the ancient path. They go on side roads and not on major highways.

Good News Translation
Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to idols. They have stumbled in the way they should go; they no longer follow the old ways; they walk on unmarked paths.

International Standard Version
Yet my people have forgotten me, and they burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their journey on the ancient paths. They walk on trails, on a way that is not built up.

JPS Tanakh 1917
For My people hath forgotten Me, They offer unto vanity; And they have been made to stumble in their ways, In the ancient paths, To walk in bypaths, In a way not cast up;

Literal Standard Version
But My people have forgotten Me, they make incense to a vain thing, | And they cause them to stumble in their ways—paths of old, | To walk in paths—a way not raised up,

Majority Standard Bible
Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway.

New American Bible
Yet my people have forgotten me: they offer incense in vain. They stumble off their paths, the ways of old, Traveling on bypaths, not the beaten track.

NET Bible
Yet my people have forgotten me and offered sacrifices to worthless idols! This makes them stumble along in the way they live and leave the old reliable path of their fathers. They have left them to walk in bypaths, in roads that are not smooth and level.

New Revised Standard Version
But my people have forgotten me, they burn offerings to a delusion; they have stumbled in their ways, in the ancient roads, and have gone into bypaths, not the highway,

New Heart English Bible
For my people have forgotten me, they have burned incense to false gods; and they have been made to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk in byways, in a way not built up;

Webster's Bible Translation
Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;

World English Bible
For my people have forgotten me. They have burned incense to false gods. They have been made to stumble in their ways in the ancient paths, to walk in byways, in a way not built up,

Young's Literal Translation
But My people have forgotten Me, to a vain thing they make perfume, And they cause them to stumble in their ways -- paths of old, To walk in paths -- a way not raised up,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Potter and the Clay
14Does the snow of Lebanon ever leave its rocky slopes? Or do its cool waters flowing from a distance ever run dry? 15Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway. 16They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.…

Cross References
Isaiah 57:14
And it will be said, "Build it up, build it up, prepare the way, take every obstacle out of the way of My people."

Isaiah 62:10
Go out, go out through the gates; prepare the way for the people! Build it up, build up the highway; clear away the stones; raise a banner for the nations!

Isaiah 65:7
both for your iniquities and for those of your fathers," says the LORD. "Because they burned incense on the mountains and scorned Me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their former deeds."

Jeremiah 2:32
Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.

Jeremiah 3:21
A voice is heard on the barren heights, the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy, because they have perverted their ways and forgotten the LORD their God.

Jeremiah 6:16
This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths: 'Where is the good way?' Then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it!'

Jeremiah 7:9
Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,


Treasury of Scripture

Because my people has forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;

my people.

Jeremiah 2:13,19,32
For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water…

Jeremiah 3:21
A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.

Jeremiah 13:25
This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.

burned.

Jeremiah 10:15
They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

Jeremiah 16:19
O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.

Jeremiah 44:15-19,25
Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, …

caused.

Isaiah 3:12
As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

Isaiah 9:16
For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.

Malachi 2:8
But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.

the ancient.

Jeremiah 6:16
Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

to walk.

Jeremiah 19:5
They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:

Isaiah 57:14
And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.

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Ancient Built Burn Burned Burning Byways Cast Cause Caused Falling False. Forgotten Gods Highway Incense Memory Offer Paths Perfume Perfumes Raised Roads Stumble Stumbled Vain Vanity Walk Way Ways Worthless
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Ancient Built Burn Burned Burning Byways Cast Cause Caused Falling False. Forgotten Gods Highway Incense Memory Offer Paths Perfume Perfumes Raised Roads Stumble Stumbled Vain Vanity Walk Way Ways Worthless
Jeremiah 18
1. Under the type of a potter is shown God's absolute power in disposing of nations.
11. Judgments threatened to Judah for her strange revolt.
18. Jeremiah prays against his conspirators.














(15) Vanity.--The word is not that commonly so translated (as in Jeremiah 2:5; Jeremiah 10:8; Ecclesiastes 1:2, et al., q. 5), but that which had been used of idols in Jeremiah 2:30; Jeremiah 4:30; Jeremiah 6:29, rendered "in vain." See also Ezekiel 13:6; Ezekiel 13:8-9. . . . Verse 15. - Because my people hath forgotten me; rather, Surely, etc.; or better still, Yet surely. It is not uncommon for a particle of asseveration to acquire a contrasting force from the context; see e.g. Jeremiah 3:20; Isaiah 53:4; and, still more completely parallel, Isaiah 2:6; Jeremiah 9:1, where Authorized Version, with substantial correctness, has "nevertheless." Israel "forgot" Jehovah (as Jeremiah 2:32); no doubt he was responsible for so doing, but still it was not "of malice preponse." To vanity; i.e. to the unreal idol-gods. And they have caused them to stumble; viz. the idol-gods; these are responsible (.for they have a real existence in the consciousness of their worshippers) for this interruption of Israel's spiritual progress (comp. 2 Chronicles 28:23). In their ways from the ancient paths. "From," however, is interpolated by the Authorized Version; the Hebrew places "the ancient paths" in apposition to "their ways," "Stand ye in the ways," Jeremiah cried at an earlier period, "and see, and ask for the old paths, which is the good way" (Jeremiah 6:16). These "old" or "ancient" paths were ideally "their ways," the ways appointed for the Jews to walk in. To walk in paths; rather, in tracks, footpaths leading up and down and often ending in nothing; or, in other terms, in a way not cast up (Isaiah 40:3, 4, gives a graphic picture of the operation of "casting up a way").

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Yet
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

My people
עַמִּ֖י (‘am·mî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 5971: A people, a tribe, troops, attendants, a flock

have forgotten Me.
שְׁכֵחֻ֥נִי (šə·ḵê·ḥu·nî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural | first person common singular
Strong's 7911: To mislay, to be oblivious of, from want of memory, attention

They burn incense
יְקַטֵּ֑רוּ (yə·qaṭ·ṭê·rū)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 6999: To smoke, turn into fragrance by fire

to worthless idols
לַשָּׁ֣וְא (laš·šāw)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7723: Evil, idolatry, uselessness

that make them stumble
וַיַּכְשִׁל֤וּם (way·yaḵ·ši·lūm)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural | third person masculine plural
Strong's 3782: To totter, waver, to falter, stumble, faint, fall

in their ways
בְּדַרְכֵיהֶם֙ (bə·ḏar·ḵê·hem)
Preposition-b | Noun - common plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 1870: A road, a course of life, mode of action

on the ancient
עוֹלָ֔ם (‘ō·w·lām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5769: Concealed, eternity, frequentatively, always

roads
שְׁבִילֵ֣י (šə·ḇî·lê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 7635: A track, passage-way

and walk
לָלֶ֣כֶת (lā·le·ḵeṯ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

on bypaths
נְתִיב֔וֹת (nə·ṯî·ḇō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 5410: Path, pathway

instead of
לֹ֥א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

the highway.
סְלוּלָֽה׃ (sə·lū·lāh)
Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - feminine singular
Strong's 5549: To mound up, to exalt, to oppose


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 18:15 For my people have forgotten me they (Jer.)
Jeremiah 18:14
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