Jeremiah 7:16

Jeremiah 7:16

Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.

a. ASV: Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me; for I will not hear thee.

b. YLT: 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.

c. Classic Amplified: Therefore do not pray for this people [of Judah] or lift up a cry or entreaty for them or make intercession to Me, for I will not listen to or hear you.

d. Septuagint: Therefore pray not thou for this people, and intercede not for them to be pitied, yea, pray not, and approach me not for them: for I will not hearken [unto thee].

e. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/ Writings: And you, [jeremiah], do not pray for this people; do not speak up for them with a cry and a prayer, and do not entreat Me, for i will not listen to you.

1. “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them…”

a. [Therefore] pray [Strong: 6419 pâlal, paw-lal'; a primitive root; to judge (officially or mentally); by extension, to intercede, pray:—intreat, judge(-ment), (make) pray(-er, -ing), make supplication.]

b. not [Strong: 408 'al al a negative particle (akin to 3808); not (the qualified negation, used as a deprecative); once (Job 24:25) as a noun, nothing:--nay, neither, + never, no ,nor, not, nothing (worth), rather than.]

c. thou [Strong: 859 'attah at-taw' or (shortened); aatta {at-taw'}; or wath {ath}; feminine (irregular) sometimes nattiy {at-tee'}; plural masculine attem {at- tem'}; feminine atten {at-ten'}; or oattenah {at-tay'naw}; or fattennah {at-tane'-naw}; a primitive pronoun of the second person; thou and thee, or (plural) ye and you:--thee, thou, ye, you.]

d. for [Strong: 1157 b`ad beh-ad' from 5704 with prepositional prefix; in up to or over against; generally at, beside, among, behind, for, etc.:--about, at by (means of), for, over, through, up (-on), within.]

e. this [Strong: 2088 zeh zeh a primitive word; the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or that:--he, X hence, X here, it(-self), X now, X of him, the one...the other, X than the other, (X out of) the (self) same, such (a one) that, these, this (hath, man), on this side...on that side, X thus, very, which.]

f. people [Strong: 5971 ʻam, am; from H6004; a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock:—folk, men, nation, people.]

g. neither [Strong: 408 'al al a negative particle (akin to 3808); not (the qualified negation, used as a deprecative); once (Job 24:25) as a noun, nothing:--nay, neither, + never, no ,nor, not, nothing (worth), rather than.]

h. lift up [Strong: 5375 nâsâʼ, naw-saw'; or נָסָה nâçâh; (Psalm 4:6 [7]), a primitive root; to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relative:—accept, advance, arise, (able to, (armor), suffer to) bear(-er, up), bring (forth), burn, carry (away), cast, contain, desire, ease, exact, exalt (self), extol, fetch, forgive, furnish, further, give, go on, help, high, hold up, honorable ( man), lade, lay, lift (self) up, lofty, marry, magnify, × needs, obtain, pardon, raise (up), receive, regard, respect, set (up), spare, stir up, swear, take (away, up), × utterly, wear, yield.]

i. cry [Strong: 7440 rinnâh, rin-naw'; from H7442; properly, a creaking (or shrill sound), i.e. shout (of joy or grief):—cry, gladness, joy, proclamation, rejoicing, shouting, sing(-ing), triumph.]

j. nor [Strong: 408 'al al a negative particle (akin to 3808); not (the qualified negation, used as a deprecative); once (Job 24:25) as a noun, nothing:--nay, neither, + never, no ,nor, not, nothing (worth), rather than.]

k. prayer [Strong: 8605 tᵉphillâh, tef-il-law'; from H6419; intercession, supplication; by implication, a hymn:—prayer.]

k. for [them] [Strong: 1157 b`ad beh-ad' from 5704 with prepositional prefix; in up to or over against; generally at, beside, among, behind, for, etc.:--about, at by (means of), for, over, through, up (-on), within.]

2. “...neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.”

a. [neither make] intercession [to me] [Strong: 6293 pâgaʻ, paw-gah'; a primitive root; to impinge, by accident or violence, or (figuratively) by importunity:—come (betwixt), cause to entreat, fall (upon), make intercession, intercessor, intreat, lay, light (upon), meet (together), pray, reach, run.]

b. for [Strong: 3588 kiy kee a primitive particle (the full form of the prepositional prefix) indicating causal relations of all kinds, antecedent or consequent; (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed:--and, + (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-)as, assured(-ly), + but, certainly, doubtless, + else, even, + except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, + nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, + (al- )though, + till, truly, + until, when, whether, while, whom, yea, yet.]

c. [I will] not [Strong: 369 'ayin ah'-yin as if from a primitive root meaning to be nothing or not exist; a non-entity; generally used as a negative particle:--else, except, fail, (father-)less, be gone, in(-curable), neither, never, no (where), none, nor, (any, thing), not, nothing, to nought, past, un(-searchable), well-nigh, without.]

d. hear [thee] [Strong: 8085 shâmaʻ, shaw-mah'; a primitive root; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.):—× attentively, call (gather) together, × carefully, × certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, × diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) hear(-ken, tell), × indeed, listen, make (a) noise, (be) obedient, obey, perceive, (make a) proclaim(-ation), publish, regard, report, shew (forth), (make a) sound, × surely, tell, understand, whosoever (heareth), witness.]

e. [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

1). Judah and Jerusalem had gotten to the point where God did not listen to their prayers. The reason is laid out in the following verses.

a). Jeremiah 7:17, 18  Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.