Jeremiah 5:31 says that the prophets of Judah were speaking falsely and the priests were ruling on their own authority, and that God’s people were happy with this arrangement. The verse is a rebuke, and its closing question asks what the people will do when the consequences arrive. The words come from the LORD, spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, and they are addressed to the nation of Judah in the years before the Babylonian invasion.
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority; and my people love to have it so. What will you do in the end of it?
Jeremiah 5:31 (WEB)
What Jeremiah 5:31 Means
The first clause describes the prophets who “prophesy falsely.” In Jeremiah’s day, a prophet claimed to speak for God, and the test of a true word was whether it matched what God had already revealed and whether it led people toward repentance. These prophets gave comfortable messages that told the people what they wanted to hear, so their words carried no real authority from God.
The second clause describes the priests who “rule by their own authority.” Priests were meant to teach the law and lead worship under God’s direction. Here they act as though their position gives them the right to decide matters on their own terms, without answering to the word of the LORD. The verse does not promise anything good in this situation. It records a corruption of leadership and then asks a hard question about where it will end.
The final clause shows the people’s role: “my people love to have it so.” The problem was not only the leaders but the crowd that welcomed them. The closing question, “What will you do in the end of it?” is not a request for advice. It forces the listener to face the consequences that are coming.
The Context of Jeremiah 5:31
The book of Jeremiah is traditionally attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, who ministered in Jerusalem roughly from the late seventh century BC until after the fall of the city in 586 BC. Chapter 5 belongs to a series of messages in which the LORD searches Jerusalem for even one person who acts justly and seeks truth. The people are described as prosperous but indifferent to the needs of the poor, the fatherless, and the needy. That is the setting in which the prophets and priests flourish.
Verses 28 through 30 come just before the verse and describe a nation that has grown fat and excels in wickedness while neglecting justice. The LORD asks whether he should not punish such things, and then calls the situation “astonishing and horrible.” Read in that light, verse 31 is the punchline of the indictment. The false leadership is not a side issue. It is what the people have chosen to accept, and that choice is what makes the coming judgment just.
Key Phrases in Jeremiah 5:31
Jeremiah 6:14
They have healed also the hurt of my people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace.
(WEB)
This verse repeats the charge that the prophets heal the wound of the people lightly, crying “peace, peace” when there is no peace. It shows the same pattern of comforting words that replace the hard truth needed for real healing.
Deuteronomy 18:20-22
20 But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.” 21 You may say in your heart, “How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?” 22 When a prophet speaks in the LORD’s name, if the thing doesn’t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You shall not be afraid of him.
(WEB)
These verses set out the test for a true prophet: the word must come from the LORD and come to pass. They give the standard Jeremiah’s listeners should have used to judge the messages they were hearing in his day.
A Short Prayer From Jeremiah 5:31
Lord, you see the voices we listen to and the things we are quick to accept. Give us a love for your truth that is stronger than our love for comfortable words. Where we have grown content with what is false or unjust, open our eyes to see it and our hearts to turn back to you. Help us test what we hear against your word, and give us the courage to speak and live faithfully, even when it costs us. Teach us to ask what you will have us do, and make us ready to answer when the day of accounting comes. Amen.
