Jeremiah 6:10 describes a people who have stopped listening to God. The prophet Jeremiah is asking, in effect, who is left to speak to them, because their hearts are closed and they no longer take pleasure in the message of the LORD. The verse is a prophet’s lament over a nation that has grown deaf to God’s voice.
To whom should I speak and testify, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they can’t listen. Behold, the LORD’s word has become a reproach to them. They have no delight in it.
Jeremiah 6:10 (WEB)
What Jeremiah 6:10 Means
The verse opens with a question: “To whom should I speak and testify, that they may hear?” Jeremiah is speaking as God’s messenger, and he is almost worn out. He has warned the people and kept warning them, and the question shows that he has run out of people who will listen. The word “testify” points to solemn witness, the kind a person gives when the truth must be heard.
The next phrases describe the cause. Their “ear is uncircumcised,” an image drawn from Israel’s covenant sign, here used to say that their hearing is closed off from God. They “can’t listen,” which describes a settled refusal rather than a simple lack of information. The verse then adds that God’s word has become “a reproach to them” and that they “have no delight in it.” The problem lies in the people’s hearts, not in the clarity of the message.
The verse does not promise that the people will change, and it does not tell us what Jeremiah did next. It is a sorrowful description of hardened hearts. It shows how God’s messenger felt in the face of rejection, and it names the danger of growing so used to comfortable sin that the truth starts to feel like an insult.
The Context of Jeremiah 6:10
The book of Jeremiah is traditionally attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, who ministered in Jerusalem during the final decades before the Babylonian exile, around the late seventh and early sixth centuries BC. His audience was the people of Judah and their leaders, who were facing the threat of invasion and judgment. Chapter 6 is full of warnings about violence, greed, and false dealing, and it calls Jerusalem to repent before destruction comes.
The verses just before and after set the mood. Verse 8 pleads, “Be instructed, Jerusalem,” and verse 11 says that God’s wrath is so full that he is “weary with holding it in.” Verse 13 explains that from the least to the greatest, everyone is greedy and dishonest, including prophets and priests. Read in that setting, Jeremiah 6:10 is not a complaint about one unlucky preacher. It describes a whole society that has stopped hearing God because it has stopped wanting to.
Key Phrases in Jeremiah 6:10
Psalm 119:103
How sweet are your promises to my taste, more than honey to my mouth!
(WEB)
This psalm names the sweetness of God’s words, a direct counterpart to the people in Jeremiah who have no delight in them. Reading it alongside Jeremiah 6:10 shows what a healthy love for God’s word looks like.
Hebrews 3:15
While it is said, “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.”
(WEB)
The writer of Hebrews urges believers not to harden their hearts when they hear God’s voice. This echoes Jeremiah’s concern and reminds readers that a softened heart is something to be guarded and asked for.
A Short Prayer From Jeremiah 6:10
Lord, I confess that my ears can grow dull, and that I sometimes treat your word as something to tolerate rather than to treasure. Forgive me for the times I have turned away from your correction or let other things crowd out your voice. Open my ears and soften my heart, so that I can hear you clearly and take real pleasure in your word.
Speak to me today through Scripture, and give me the courage to respond. Let your word be a joy and not a reproach to me. Amen.
