13 The Lord said, "It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law.
13 And the Lord saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;
13 And the Lord says: "Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it,
13 God's answer: "Because they abandoned my plain teaching. They wouldn't listen to anything I said, refused to live the way I told them to.
13 And the Lord said, "Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it,
13 The Lord replies, "This has happened because my people have abandoned my instructions; they have refused to obey what I said.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 9:13
Commentary on Jeremiah 9:12-22
(Read Jeremiah 9:12-22)
In Zion the voice of joy and praise used to be heard, while the people kept close to God; but sin has altered the sound, it is now the voice of lamentation. Unhumbled hearts lament their calamity, but not their sin, which is the cause of it. Let the doors be shut ever so fast, death steals upon us. It enters the palaces of princes and great men, though stately, strongly built, and guarded. Nor are those more safe that are abroad; death cuts off even the children from without, and the young men from the streets. Hearken to the word of the Lord, and mourn with godly sorrow. This alone can bring true comfort; and it can turn the heaviest afflictions into precious mercies.