Jeremiah 5:23 describes a people whose hearts have turned away from God. The prophet says their inner life is stubborn and defiant, and that they have openly moved away from the Lord rather than staying faithful to him. The verse is a message from God through the prophet Jeremiah, spoken to the people of Judah and Jerusalem in the years before the nation fell to Babylon.
“But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart. They have revolted and gone.
Jeremiah 5:23 (WEB)
What Jeremiah 5:23 Means
The verse begins with “this people,” a phrase that points to the whole nation rather than a few individuals. God is describing a collective condition, one that shapes how the community thinks, worships and lives. The word “revolting” carries the sense of something stubborn and contrary, like a person who refuses every reasonable request. The phrase “rebellious heart” goes deeper, naming the will and affections as the place where the problem lies. The people are not simply confused; they have set their hearts against God.
The last clause, “They have revolted and gone,” describes action following attitude. The rebellion is not only private resentment but a real departure, a turning away that shows in daily choices. The verse does not promise that the people cannot change, and it does not explain every step that led them there. What it does is name the problem plainly, which is the first step in any honest look at our own hearts.
The Context of Jeremiah 5:23
The book of Jeremiah is traditionally attributed to the prophet himself, who served in Jerusalem around the late seventh and early sixth centuries before Christ. His audience was the kingdom of Judah, a people who had known God’s covenant and temple yet were drifting into idolatry and social injustice. Chapter 5 is part of a series of oracles calling them back, and the surrounding verses show God appealing to them as a foolish people who have eyes but do not see.
Just before verse 23, God points to the sea, which he restrains with a boundary of sand that its waves cannot cross. Right after it, the text notes that the people do not say in their hearts that they should fear the LORD who gives the rains and the harvest seasons. Read this way, the verse is a contrast. Creation obeys its boundaries without complaint, while God’s own people refuse the trust and reverence that their Creator has earned.
Key Phrases in Jeremiah 5:23
Ezekiel 36:26
I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
(WEB)
This promise from Ezekiel answers the problem Jeremiah names. The God who diagnoses a rebellious heart also promises to replace it with a new one. Reading the two together shows that the warning is not the last word, and that God himself intends to make his people responsive to him.
Psalm 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
(WEB)
David’s prayer after his sin models the honest response to a rebellious heart. He asks God to create a clean heart and renew a steadfast spirit within him. Set beside Jeremiah 5:23, it gives words for the person who recognizes their own drift and wants to come back.
A Short Prayer From Jeremiah 5:23
Lord, you see the hearts I try to hide from others and sometimes from myself. Where I have turned my attention away from you, or set my will against your ways, I ask you to show me clearly. I do not want to make excuses for the drift in my life. Soften what has grown hard, and turn my heart back toward you in trust and reverence. Help me to follow you not only in words but in the direction my days are taking. Thank you that you call your people back rather than leaving them in their rebellion. Amen.
