Jeremiah 32:26-35·~1 min

The LORD Answers Jeremiah

The LORD answers Jeremiah by declaring Himself the God of all flesh and asking whether anything is too difficult for Him. He then confirms that Jerusalem will indeed be delivered to the Chaldeans and burned, because Israel and Judah from their youth have done evil, turned their backs on His teaching, defiled His house with abominations, and committed the horrific sins of idolatry and child sacrifice in the Valley of Ben-hinnom.

T²⁶hen the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ²⁷“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me? ²⁸Therefore this is what the LORD says: Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it. ²⁹And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in, set it on fire, and burn it, along with the houses of those who provoked Me to anger by burning incense to Baal on their rooftops and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods. ³⁰For the children of Israel and of Judah have done nothing but evil in My sight from their youth; indeed, they have done nothing but provoke Me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the LORD. ³¹For this city has aroused My wrath and fury from the day it was built until now. Therefore I will remove it from My presence ³²because of all the evil the children of Israel and of Judah have done to provoke Me to anger— they, their kings, their officials, their priests and prophets, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem. ³³They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline. ³⁴They have placed their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it. ³⁵They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech— something I never commanded them, nor had it ever entered My mind, that they should commit such an abomination and cause Judah to sin.

Section summaryThe LORD answers by first reaffirming His sovereign identity as the God of all flesh for whom nothing is too hard, then by restating the justice of Jerusalem's fall. The city's destruction is traced to long, pervasive rebellion, idolatry, and even child sacrifice, making clear that the coming catastrophe is not a failure of God's power but an expression of His righteous judgment.

Role in the chapterThis section resolves Jeremiah's question first by clarifying that restoration hope does not erase the full legitimacy of the judgment now arriving.