“They said.
‘Every one of you!
Turn now
From your evil ways!
Turn now
From wrong doings!
You will remain
Upon the land
That Yahweh has given
To you
As well as your ancestors
From of old
And forever.
Do not go
After other gods
To serve them,
To worship them!
Do not provoke me to anger
With the work of your hands!
Then I will do you no harm.’
Says Yahweh.
‘Yet you did not listen to me.
Thus you have provoked me
To anger
With the work of your hands
To your own harm.’”
Jeremiah says that Yahweh’s prophets had told all of them to turn away from their evil ways and wicked doings. If they had done that, they would remain in the land that Yahweh gave to them and their ancestors forever. However, they were not to go after other gods, serving and worshipping them. Thus they should not provoke Yahweh to anger with their own hands. Yahweh was not going to harm them. However, they did not listen. They had to provoke him to anger with the works of their own hands that only brought harm to them.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 