Jeremiah 6:10 describes a people who have stopped being able to hear God’s word. The prophet asks who he could speak to and warn, because the listeners have closed their hearing to God and find his message offensive rather than welcome. The verse was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, who was called to deliver God’s warnings to Judah and Jerusalem in the years before the Babylonian conquest.
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 not asking for advice. He is expressing exhaustion and grief. He has spoken God’s warnings again and again, and the people have not listened, so he wonders whom he could possibly reach. The word “testify” points to solemn witness, the kind of plain declaration a person makes when the truth must be told.
The next phrases explain the reason. The people’s “ear is uncircumcised,” a striking image meaning their hearing is closed off, as if a covering blocks it. They “can’t listen,” which describes a settled refusal rather than a simple lack of ability. Then the verse says the word of the LORD “has become a reproach to them” and that they “have no delight in it.” God’s message has become something they treat with scorn and boredom.
The verse does not promise that every listener will be changed, and it does not describe the prophet’s work as a failure in God’s eyes. It shows the hard reality that human hearts can resist God’s truth, and that a prophet may feel the weight of that resistance deeply. It describes a condition, not a guarantee about any particular person’s future.
The Context of Jeremiah 6:10
The book of Jeremiah is traditionally attributed to the prophet himself, who ministered in Jerusalem around the late seventh and early sixth centuries before Christ. His audience was the people of Judah and their leaders, a nation that had turned to idolatry, injustice, and false security. Chapter 6 is a series of warnings about an enemy coming from the north and about the judgment that would follow if the people did not turn back.
The verses just before and after show why this moment matters. In verses 7 and 8, Jerusalem is pictured as a well pouring out wickedness, and God calls the city to be instructed before it is left desolate. Verses 11 through 13 describe the judgment that will fall, and verse 13 says that from the least to the greatest, people are given to greed and deal falsely. Read in that setting, verse 10 is the moment where the prophet pauses, sees that the warning is being ignored at every level, and feels the sorrow of a messenger whose words are not received.
Key Phrases in Jeremiah 6:10
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 verse promises that God will give a new heart and a new spirit, removing the heart of stone. It answers the condition described in Jeremiah 6:10 by showing that the hardness of heart which blocks hearing is something God himself can change.
Mark 4:9
He said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”
(WEB)
Jesus ends the parable of the sower with a call to hear, which echoes the difficulty Jeremiah describes. Reading the two together shows that the ability to truly listen is both a human responsibility and a gift that God is pleased to give.
A Short Prayer From Jeremiah 6:10
Lord, you know how hard it is to speak your truth to people who will not hear it. You know the weariness of the prophet and the ache of words that seem to fall on closed ears. Open my heart where it has grown stubborn, and soften whatever has become numb to your voice. Give me patience for those who resist you, and let my own listening be honest and humble. Help me to trust that your word is living even when it is rejected. Amen.
