And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

JEREMIAH 5:19KJV
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Jeremiah 5:19 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 5:19 mean?

Jeremiah 5:19 explains that when the people of Judah ask why God is allowing disaster to happen to them, they will be told it is because they abandoned God and served foreign gods in their own land, so now they will have to serve foreigners in a land that does not belong to them. The verse connects their worship of other gods to the consequence of being taken into exile.

In this verse, God is speaking through the prophet Jeremiah to the people of Judah during a time when they are facing judgment for their unfaithfulness. The people’s question, “Why is the LORD our God doing all this to us?” is answered directly: their own actions—forsaking God and worshiping other gods—have led to their coming exile and servitude in a foreign country. The verse sets up a clear cause-and-effect relationship between their choices and the consequences they will experience.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 5:19

  • “LORD” (יְהוָה, YHWH): This is the personal name of God in the Hebrew Bible, emphasizing that it is Israel’s own covenant God who is acting, not a distant or unknown deity.
  • “forsaken” (עָזַב, ‘azav): This word means to abandon or leave behind. It highlights the seriousness of the people’s break from their relationship with God.
  • “served” (עָבַד, ‘avad): This verb means to work for or worship. The same word is used both for serving God and for serving foreign gods or foreigners, underlining the reversal in their situation.
  • “strange” (נָכְרִי, nokhri): This word means foreign or alien. It stresses that the gods they served were not their own, just as the people they will serve in exile are not their own people.

Why Jeremiah 5:19 matters

  • Jeremiah 5:19 clarifies that the exile is not random or unfair, but a direct result of the people’s own choices to abandon God and seek after other gods.
  • The verse emphasizes personal responsibility and the idea that actions have consequences, which is a major theme throughout Jeremiah’s prophecies.
  • By using the same words for “serving” both gods and foreigners, the verse draws a strong parallel between spiritual unfaithfulness and its real-world outcome: loss of freedom and homeland.

Where else these words appear

“Wherefore” Hebrew H8478 · used in 24 verses

  • Genesis 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
  • Exodus 32:19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.
  • Job 30:14 They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.

“Wherefore” Hebrew H4100 · used in 27 verses

  • Genesis 4:10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
  • Numbers 23:8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?
  • Job 30:2 Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?

“strange” Hebrew H5236 · used in 35 verses

  • Genesis 17:12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
  • 1 Samuel 7:3 And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
  • Psalms 144:7 Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;

“strangers” Hebrew H2114 · used in 76 verses

  • Exodus 29:33 And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy.
  • Psalms 54:3 For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.
  • Isaiah 28:21 For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.