Amplified Bible
Jeremiah 3:14
14‘Return, O faithless children [of the twelve tribes],’ says the Lord, ‘For I am a master and husband to you, And I will take you [not as a nation, but individually]—one from a city and two from a [tribal] family— And I will bring you to Zion.’
Jeremiah 3:14 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
- New International Version (NIV)“Return, faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Return, O faithless children, declares the Lord; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; “for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
Context of Jeremiah 3:14
12Go and proclaim these words toward the north [where the ten tribes have been taken as captives] and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ says the Lord; ‘I will not look on you in anger. For I am gracious and merciful,’ says the Lord; ‘I will not be angry forever. 13Only understand fully and acknowledge your wickedness and guilt, That you have rebelled (transgressed) against the Lord your God And have scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the Lord. ‘Return, O faithless children [of the twelve tribes],’ says the Lord, ‘For I am a master and husband to you, And I will take you [not as a nation, but individually]—one from a city and two from a [tribal] family— And I will bring you to Zion.’ 15“Then [in the final time] I will give you [spiritual] shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and [true] understanding. 16It will be in those days when you have [repented and] multiplied and increased in the land,” says the Lord, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will not come to mind, nor will they [seriously] remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again [for instead of the ark, which symbolized My presence, I will be present].
Read all of Jeremiah 3Jeremiah 3:14 word by word
שׁ֣וּבוּ בָנִ֤ים שׁוֹבָבִים֙ נְאֻם־יְהוָ֔ה כִּ֥י אָנֹכִ֖י בָּעַ֣לְתִּי בָכֶ֑ם וְלָקַחְתִּ֨י אֶתְכֶ֜ם אֶחָ֣ד מֵעִ֗יר וּשְׁנַ֙יִם֙ מִמִּשְׁפָּחָ֔ה וְהֵבֵאתִ֥י אֶתְכֶ֖ם צִיּֽוֹן׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Turnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
- O backslidingשׁוֹבָבshôbâb · turning backH7726
- childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- saithנְאֻםne'ûm · utteranceH5002
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- for I am marriedבָּעַלbâ‛al · rule: to marryH1166
- unto you: and I will takeלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
- you oneאֶחָד'echâd · oneH259
- of a cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
- and twoשְׁנַ֫יִםshenayim shettayim · twoH8147
- of a familyמִשְׁפָּחָהmishpâchâh · familyH4940
- and I will bringבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): bringH935
- you to Zionצִיּוֹןtsîyôn · ZionH6726
Cross-references for Jeremiah 3:14
- Jeremiah 2:19Your own wickedness will discipline you, And your desertion of the faith will punish you. Know therefore that it is an evil and bitter thing For you to abandon (reject) the Lord your God, And for you to be indifferent to Me and dismiss the [reverent] fear of Me,” says the Lord God of hosts.
- Jeremiah 3:1That is to say, “If a man divorces his wife And she goes [away] from him And becomes another man’s [wife], Will he return to her again? [Of course not!] Will not that land [where such a thing happened] be completely desecrated? But you [rebelled against Me and you] are a prostitute with many lovers; Yet you turn to Me.” says the Lord.
- Jeremiah 2:2“Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I remember [earnestly] the lovingkindness and devotion of your youth, Your time of betrothal [like that of a bride during the early years in Egypt and again at Sinai], When you followed Me in the wilderness, Through a land not sown.
- Jeremiah 31:32not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says the Lord.
- Isaiah 54:5For your husband is your Maker, The Lord of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of the whole earth.
- Hosea 2:19And I will betroth you (Israel) to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and loyalty, and in compassion.
- Jeremiah 23:3“Then I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries to which I have driven them and bring them back to their folds and pastures; and they will be fruitful and multiply.
- Jeremiah 31:8Behold, I am bringing them from the north country, And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth, Among them [will be] the blind and the lame, The woman with child and she who labors in childbirth, together; A great company, they will return here [to Jerusalem].
- Isaiah 1:9If the Lord of hosts Had not left us a few survivors, We would be like Sodom, We would be like Gomorrah.
- Isaiah 6:13And though a tenth [of the people] remain in the land, It will again be subject to destruction [consumed and burned], Like a massive terebinth tree or like an oak Whose stump remains when it is chopped down. The holy seed [the elect remnant] is its stump [the substance of Israel].”
- Isaiah 10:22For though your people, O Israel, may be as the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return; The destruction is determined [it is decided and destined for completion], overflowing with justice (righteous punishment).
- Isaiah 11:11Then it will happen on that day that the Lord Will again acquire with His hand a second time The remnant of His people, who will remain, From Assyria, from [Lower] Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush (Ethiopia), from Elam [in Persia], from Shinar [Babylonia], from Hamath [in Aram], And from the coastlands bordering the [Mediterranean] Sea.
- Isaiah 17:6Yet gleanings will be left in the land [of Israel] like the shaking of the olive tree, Two or three olives on the topmost branch, Four or five on the [outermost] branches of the fruitful tree,” Declares the Lord, the God of Israel.
- Isaiah 24:13For so it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples, As the shaking of an olive tree, As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over [and only a little of the fruit remains].
- Ezekiel 34:11For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out.
- Zechariah 13:7“Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, And against the Man, My Associate,” Declares the Lord of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd so that the sheep [of the flock] may be scattered; And I will turn My hand and stretch it out against the little ones [of the flock].
Commentaries on Jeremiah 3:14
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14I will take you one of a city, and two of a family - If there should be but one of a city left, or one willing to return, and two only of a whole tribe, yet will I receive these, and bring them back from captivity into their own land. I have heard these words most sinfully applied to show the nature of a fancied eternal decree of election, that has appointed in several cases one only out of a whole city, and two out of a whole family, to be eternally…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14Children married - The twofold relationship gives a double certainty of acceptance. As children, they were sure of a father‘s love, as a wife they might hope for a revival of past affection from the husband of their youth. One of a city, and two of a family - The family (in Hebrew) is far larger than a city, as it embraces all the descendants of a common ancestor. Thus, the tribe of Judah was divided into only four or five families. However national the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-20Verses 12-20 See God's readiness to pardon sin, and the blessings reserved for gospel times. These words were proclaimed toward the north; to Israel, the ten tribes, captive in Assyria. They are directed how to return. If we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive them. These promises are fully to come to pass in the bringing back the Jews in after-ages. God will graciously receive those that return to him; and by his grace, he takes…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14Return: The Lord once spoke to all Israel like a husband to an unfaithful wife. Now, he calls Israel faithless children. The Lord will bring chosen exiles back to the promised land (Jeremiah 31:6, 32; Hosea 2:19–20; Romans 11:5). to Zion: This refers to Jerusalem in the land of Israel.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1414. I am married--literally, "I am Lord," that is, husband to you (so Jr 31:32; compare Ho 2:19, 20; Is 54:5). Gesenius, following the Septuagint version of Jr 31:32, and Paul's quotation of it (He 8:9), translates, "I have rejected you"; so the corresponding Arabic, and the idea of lordship, may pass into that of looking down upon, and so rejecting. But the Septuagint in this passage translates, "I will be Lord over you." And the "for" has much more…Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 3:14
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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