Jeremiah 7:17 (WEB)
Don’t you see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
As quoted in the map (KJV)
Jeremiah 7:17 (KJV)
Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
Key words
- עָרֵי יְהוּדָהarey Yehudah · Hebrew
- 'the cities of Judah' — the idolatry is happening inside the covenant people, not among foreigners.
Why it matters
God asks Jeremiah whether he sees what Judah is doing in its cities and streets — introducing the family worship of 'the queen of heaven' in the next verse. Pitre opens the book with a Baptist pastor's challenge that Catholic devotion to Mary as 'Queen of Heaven' is exactly the idolatry Jeremiah condemns. The passage frames the objection that the rest of the book must answer.