Jeremiah 3:4-14

4 Namely from this time forth call thou me, Thou art my father, the leader of my virginity. (Yet now thou sayest to me, Thou art my father, my guide in my younger years.)

5 (And,) Whether thou shalt be wroth without end, either shalt continue (to feel so) into the end? Lo! thou hast spoken, and hast done evils, and thou were mighty (in them). And for words of penance thou blasphemedest by words of pride; and thou filledest thine evil thought(s), and showedest thy strength against thy husband, (so) that thou mayest do that thing that thou treatedest by word.

6 And the Lord said to me, in the days of Josiah, the king, Whether thou hast seen what thing the adversary, Israel, hath done? She went [away] to herself on each high hill, and under each tree full of boughs, and did fornication there. (And the Lord said to me, in the days of King Josiah, Hast thou seen what my adversary, Israel, hath done? She went upon each high hill, and under each tree full of branches, and she did fornication there.)

7 And I said, when she had done all these things, Turn thou again to me; and she turned not again. And her sister, Judah, breaker of the law, saw, (And I said to her, when she had done all these things, Return thou again to me; but she did not return. And her sister, Judah, the law-breaker, saw,)

8 that for the adversary, Israel, did adultery, I had let go her, and I had given to her a libel, (or a little book,) of forsaking; and Judah, her sister, breaker of the law, dreaded not, but also she went, and did fornication. (that my adversary, Israel, had done adultery, and that I had let her go, and that I had given her a note of divorce; and her sister Judah, the law-breaker, did not fear, but she also went, and did fornication.)

9 And by lightness of her fornication she defouled the earth, and did adultery with a stone, and with a tree. (And with the indifference of her fornication she defiled the land, and did idolatry with a stone, and with a piece of wood.)

10 And in all these things her sister, Judah, breaker of the law, turned not again to me, in all her heart, but in a leasing, saith the Lord God. (And in all these things her sister, Judah, the law-breaker, did not return to me, with all her heart, but in a lie, or falsely, saith the Lord God.)

11 And the Lord said to me, The adversary, Israel, hath justified her soul, in comparison of Judah, breaker of the law. (And the Lord said to me, My adversary, Israel, hath justified her soul, in comparison to Judah, the law-breaker.)

12 Go thou, and cry these words against the north; and thou shalt say, Thou adversary, Israel, turn again, saith the Lord, and I shall not turn away my face from you; for I am holy, saith the Lord, and I shall not be wroth without end. (Go thou, and cry out these words against the north; and thou shalt say, O my adversary, Israel, return to me, saith the Lord, and I shall not turn away my face from you; for I am holy, saith the Lord, and I shall not be angry forever.)

13 Nevertheless know thou thy wickedness; for thou hast trespassed against thy Lord God, and thou hast spread abroad thy ways to aliens under each tree full of boughs; and thou heardest not my voice, saith the Lord. (Nevertheless know thou thy wickedness; for thou hast trespassed against the Lord thy God, and thou hast spread abroad thy ways to strangers, or to foreigners, under each tree full of branches; and thou hast not listened to, or obeyed, my voice, saith the Lord.)

14 Be ye converted, sons, turning again, saith the Lord, for I am your husband; and I shall take you, one of a city, and twain of a kindred, and I shall lead you into Zion; (Come back to me/Return to me, ye people who be turned away, saith the Lord, for I am your husband; and I shall take you, one from a city, and two from a tribe, and I shall lead you unto Mount Zion;)

Jeremiah 3:4-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 3

In this chapter the sins of the people of Israel and Judah are exposed; particularly their idolatry, signified by playing the harlot; which is aggravated by the number of lovers or idols they had worshipped; by the many places where they had committed it; by their impudence in doing it; and by the bad consequence of it, showers of rain being withheld from them on that account, Jer 3:1-3 and the grace of God towards them is abundantly declared by frequent calls unto them to repent and turn to him, and this after putting them away, which is not usual, Jer 3:1,8, the Lord expostulates with them, and puts words into their mouths, what they should say to him, even after they had spoken and done as evil things as they could, Jer 3:4,5 the sin of Judah is particularly aggravated, by having seen what Israel, or the ten tribes, had done; their impenitence, notwithstanding the divine call; their going into captivity for their sin; and yet all this had no effect on Judah, to restrain them from the like sins, and to engage them to repentance; so that, of the two, the men of Judah were most to blame, Jer 3:6-11, wherefore the prophet is bid to go towards the north, where Babylon lay, and Israel were carried captive, and call upon them to return to the Lord, and proclaim his grace and mercy to them, only insisting upon an acknowledgment of their sins, their idolatry and disobedience, Jer 3:12,13 and next the call to them to return is repeated; to which they are encouraged by observing the relations, they stood in to him, which continued, by promising to bring a remnant of them to Zion, and give them pastors approved of by him, and profitable to them, Jer 3:14,15 which respect Gospel times, and the latter day, when the ceremonial law would be abrogated, Jer 3:16, the Gentiles called, Jer 3:17 and an entire agreement between Judah and Israel, Jer 3:18 and yet the Lord expresses a concern how he should reckon them as his children, and treat them as such, who had behaved so ill towards him; but his grace gets over the difficulties; finds out a way, by putting it into their mouths to call him their Father, and not turn away from him, Jer 3:19 and this, notwithstanding their great treachery to him, perversion of their ways, and forgetfulness of the Lord, Jer 3:20,21, and they are again exhorted to repent and turn, with a promise of healing their backslidings, which has such an effect upon them, as to engage them to come to him, Jer 3:22 acknowledging their salvation is only in him, and not in their idols; and that sin was the cause of all their calamities; and that shame and confusion of face belonged unto them on that account, Jer 3:23-25.