Jeremiah 3:15-25

15 and I shall give to you shepherds after mine heart, and they shall feed you with knowing and teaching.

16 And when ye shall be multiplied, and increase(d) in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall no more say, The ark of [the] testament of the Lord (they shall no more speak of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord); neither it shall ascend on the heart, neither they shall think on it, neither it shall be visited, neither it shall be further (needed).

17 In that time they shall call Jerusalem The seat of the Lord, and all heathen men shall be gathered together to it, in the name of the Lord, in Jerusalem; and they shall not go after the shrewdness of their worst heart. (At that time they shall call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all the heathen shall be gathered together to it, in the name of the Lord, in Jerusalem; and they shall not go after the depravity of the worst desires of their hearts.)

18 In those days the house of Judah shall go to the house of Israel; and they shall come together from the land of the north to the land which I gave to your fathers.

19 Forsooth I said, How shall I set thee among (my) sons, and shall give to thee a desirable land, a full clear heritage of the hosts of heathen men? And I said, Thou shalt call me, Father, and thou shalt not cease to enter after me. (And I said, Yea, I shall put thee among my sons and daughters, and I shall give thee a desirable land, an inheritance better than anything of the heathen! And I said, Thou shalt call me Father, and thou shalt not cease to follow me.)

20 But as if a woman despiseth her lover (But like a woman can despise her lover), so the house of Israel despised me, saith the Lord.

21 A voice is heard in (the) ways, the weeping and yelling of the sons of Israel; for they made wicked their way, they forgat their Lord God. (A sound is heard on the way, the weeping and yelling of the Israelites; for they made their way wicked, they forgot the Lord their God.)

22 Be ye converted, sons, turning again, and I shall heal your turnings away. Lo! we come to thee; for thou art our Lord God. (Come back to me/Return to me, ye people who be turned away, and I shall heal your turnings away. And ye shall say, Lo! we come to thee; for thou art the Lord our God.)

23 Verily the little hills were liars, the multitude of mountains was false; verily in our Lord God is the health of Israel. (Truly there was no help from our worship on the little hills, or on the mountains; truly in the Lord our God is Israel's only salvation, or deliverance.)

24 Shame ate the travail of our fathers, from our youth; shame ate the flocks of them, and the droves of them, the sons of them, and the daughters of them. (From our early days, Baal, the god of shame ate the fruits of our forefathers? labours; yea, the god of shame ate their flocks, and their herds, and their sons, and their daughters.)

25 We shall sleep in our shame, and our shame shall cover us; for we sinned to our Lord God, both we and our fathers, from our youth unto this day; and we have not heard the voice of our Lord God. (We shall sleep in our shame, and our shame shall cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, both we and our forefathers, from our early days until this day; and we have not heard the voice of the Lord our God.)

Jeremiah 3:15-25 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.