O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your vain thoughts lodge within you?
All Commentaries on Jeremiah 4:14 Go To Jeremiah 4
John Chrysostom
AD 407
To pray with unwashed hands is a thing of no consequence, but to pray with an unclean conscience is the worst of all evils. Listen to what was said to the Jews, who were much concerned about such exterior purification, “Wash your heart from wickedness. How long shall hurtful thoughts abide in you?” Let us also wash our hearts, not with filth but with pure water, with almsgiving and not with covetousness.