Jeremiah 9:14

9:14 Instead they have followed the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts. They have paid allegiance to ¹  the gods called Baal, ²  as their fathers ³  taught them to do.

Jeremiah 18:12

18:12 But they just keep saying, ‘We do not care what you say! ⁴  We will do whatever we want to do! We will continue to behave wickedly and stubbornly!’” ⁵ 

Jeremiah 7:24

7:24 But they did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They followed the stubborn inclinations of their own wicked hearts. They acted worse and worse instead of better. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 16:12

16:12 And you have acted even more wickedly than your ancestors! Each one of you has followed the stubborn inclinations of your own wicked heart and not obeyed me. ⁷ 

Jeremiah 23:17

23:17 They continually say ⁸  to those who reject what the Lord has said, ⁹ 

‘Things will go well for you!’ ¹⁰ 

They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts,

‘Nothing bad will happen to you!’

[9:14]  ¹ tn Heb “they have gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

[9:14]  ² tn Heb “the Baals,” referring either to the pagan gods called “Baals” or the images of Baal (so NLT).

[9:14]  ³ tn Or “forefathers,” or “ancestors.” Here the referent could be the immediate parents or, by their example, more distant ancestors.

[18:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “It is useless!” See the same expression in a similar context in Jer 2:25.

[18:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “We will follow our own plans and do each one according to the stubbornness of his own wicked heart.”

[7:24]  ⁷ tn Or “They went backward and not forward”; Heb “They were to the backward and not to the forward.” The two phrases used here appear nowhere else in the Bible and the latter preposition plus adverb elsewhere is used temporally meaning “formerly” or “previously.” The translation follows the proposal of J. Bright, Jeremiah (AB), 57. Another option is “they turned their backs to me, not their faces,” understanding the line as a variant of a line in 2:27.

[16:12]  ¹⁰ sn For the argumentation here compare Jer 7:23-26.

[23:17]  ¹³ tn The translation reflects an emphatic construction where the infinitive absolute follows a participle (cf. GKC 343 §113.r).

[23:17]  ¹⁴ tc The translation follows the Greek version. The Hebrew text reads, “who reject me, ‘The Lord has spoken, “Things…”’” The Greek version is to be preferred here because of (1) the parallelism of the lines “reject what the Lord has said” // “follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts;” (2) the preceding context which speaks of “visions of their own imaginations not of what the Lord has given them;” (3) the following context which denies that they have ever had access to the Lord’s secrets; (4) the general contexts earlier regarding false prophecy where rejection of the Lord’s word is in view (6:14 [see there v. 10]; 8:11 [see there v. 9]); (5) the meter of the poetic lines (the Hebrew meter is 3/5/4/3; the meter presupposed by the translation is 5/3/4/3 with the 3’s being their words). The difference is one of vocalization of the same consonants. The vocalization of the MT is יְהוָה מְנַאֲצַי דִּבֶּר [mÿna’atsay dibber yÿhvah]; the Hebrew Vorlage behind the Greek would be vocalized as מְנַאֲצֵי דְּבַר יְהוָה (mÿna’atsey dÿvar yÿhvah).

[23:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “You will have peace.” But see the note on 14:13. See also 6:14 and 8:11.