Jeremiah 36:3

3 If peradventure when the house of Judah heareth all the evils which I think to do to them, each man turn again from his worst way, and I shall be merciful to the wickedness and sin of them. (And perhaps when the house of Judah heareth all the evils which I think to do to them, each person shall turn from his worst ways, and then I shall be merciful to them regarding their wickedness and their sin.)

Jeremiah 36:3 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 36:3

It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which
I purpose to do unto them
Not that there was any uncertainty in God as to the knowledge of future events, any more than a change in his purposes: he had purposed to bring evil upon them, which purpose would not be disannulled; and he knew that the Jews would not hearken to the prediction of it, or be concerned about it, and repent of their sins, and reform; but this method he was pleased to take, as being, humanly speaking, a probable one to awaken their attention, and which would leave them inexcusable: that they may return every man from his evil way;
repent of it, and reform: that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin;
by not inflicting on them the punishment and ruin threatened: where repentance is, remission of sin is likewise, and both are the gifts of divine grace, when spiritual and evangelical.

Jeremiah 36:3 In-Context

1 And it was done, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word was made of the Lord to Jeremy, and said, (And it was done, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, that this word of the Lord was made to Jeremiah, and said,)
2 Take thou the volume of a book, and thou shalt write therein all the words, which I spake to thee against Israel and Judah, and against all folks, from the day in which I spake to thee, from the days of Josiah unto this day. (Take thou the volume of a book, and thou shalt write in it all the words, which I spoke to thee against Israel and Judah, and against all the nations, from the day when I first spoke to thee, yea, from the days of Josiah unto this day.)
3 If peradventure when the house of Judah heareth all the evils which I think to do to them, each man turn again from his worst way, and I shall be merciful to the wickedness and sin of them. (And perhaps when the house of Judah heareth all the evils which I think to do to them, each person shall turn from his worst ways, and then I shall be merciful to them regarding their wickedness and their sin.)
4 Therefore Jeremy called Baruch, the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote (out) of the mouth of Jeremy in the volume of a book all the words of the Lord, which he spake to him. (And so Jeremiah called Baruch, the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote in the volume of a book, from the mouth of Jeremiah, all the words of the Lord which he spoke to him.)
5 And Jeremy commanded to Baruch, and said, I am closed, and I may not enter into the house of the Lord. (And Jeremiah said to Baruch, I am enclosed, or imprisoned, and I cannot go to the House of the Lord.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.