Christian Standard Bible
Jeremiah 8:4
4“You are to say to them: This is what the Lord says: Do people fall and not get up again? If they turn away, do they not return?
Jeremiah 8:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
- New International Version (NIV)“Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “ ‘When people fall down, do they not get up? When someone turns away, do they not return?
- English Standard Version (ESV)"You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord: When men fall, do they not rise again? If one turns away, does he not return?
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Moreover you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Will they fall and not rise? Will one turn away and not return?
Context of Jeremiah 8:4
2They will be exposed to the sun, the moon, and all the stars in the sky, which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be collected and buried but will become like manure on the soil’s surface. 3Death will be chosen over life by all the survivors of this evil family, those who remain wherever I have banished them.” This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. “You are to say to them: This is what the Lord says: Do people fall and not get up again? If they turn away, do they not return? 5Why have these people turned away? Why is Jerusalem always turning away? They take hold of deceit; they refuse to return. 6I have paid careful attention. They do not speak what is right. No one regrets his evil, asking, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone has stayed his course like a horse rushing into battle.
Read all of Jeremiah 8Jeremiah 8:4 word by word
וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵיהֶ֗ם כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה הֲיִפְּל֖וּ וְלֹ֣א יָק֑וּמוּ אִם־יָשׁ֖וּב וְלֹ֥א יָשֽׁוּב׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Jeremiah 8:4
- Proverbs 24:16Though a righteous person falls seven times, he will get up, but the wicked will stumble into ruin.
- Hosea 14:1Israel, return to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled in your iniquity.
- Amos 5:2She has fallen; Virgin Israel will never rise again. She lies abandoned on her land with no one to raise her up.
- Micah 7:8Do not rejoice over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will stand up; though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.
- Jeremiah 3:1If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him to marry another, can he ever return to her? Wouldn’t such a land become totally defiled? But you! You have prostituted yourself with many partners — can you return to me? This is the Lord’s declaration.
- Jeremiah 4:1If you return, Israel — this is the Lord’s declaration — you will return to me, if you remove your abhorrent idols from my presence and do not waver,
- Jeremiah 23:14Among the prophets of Jerusalem also I saw a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, and none turns his back on evil. They are all like Sodom to me; Jerusalem’s residents are like Gomorrah.
- Jeremiah 36:3Perhaps when the house of Judah hears about all the disaster I am planning to bring on them, each one of them will turn from his evil way. Then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.”
- 1 Kings 8:38every prayer or petition that any person or that all your people Israel may have — they each know their own affliction — as they spread out their hands toward this temple,
- Isaiah 44:22I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
- Isaiah 55:7Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, so he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will freely forgive.
- Ezekiel 18:23Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” This is the declaration of the Lord God. “Instead, don’t I take pleasure when he turns from his ways and lives?
- Hosea 6:1Come, let’s return to the Lord. For he has torn us, and he will heal us; he has wounded us, and he will bind up our wounds.
- Hosea 7:10Israel’s arrogance testifies against them, yet they do not return to the Lord their God, and for all this, they do not seek him.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 8:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Moreover thou shalt say - Dr. Blayney very properly observes, "In that part of the prophecy which follows next, the difference of speakers requires to be attended to; the transition being quick and sudden, but full of life and energy. The prophet at first, in the name of God, reproves the people's incorrigibility; he charges their wise ones with folly, and threatens them with grievous calamities, Jeremiah 8:4-13. In the three next verses he seems to…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4The prophet here resumes from Jeremiah 7:28 the main subject of his prophecy. He again invites the Jews to repentance. Shall they fall? - The argument is that when men fall, they do not lie upon the ground, but endeavor to get up again: and when a man loses his way, he does not persist in going on, but turns round, and retraces his steps. Israel then will be only following the dictates of comnon sense in desisting from that which she now knows to be her…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-13Verses 4-13 What brought this ruin? 1. The people would not attend to reason; they would not act in the affairs of their souls with common prudence. Sin is backsliding; it is going back from the way that leads to life, to that which leads to destruction. 2. They would not attend to the warning of conscience. They did not take the first step towards repentance: true repentance begins in serious inquiry as to what we have done, from conviction that we have…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-7These verses list the evidence of Judah's sins. The people engaged in ritual sex related to idol worship. They followed idol worship practices. They stayed in their delusions because lies trapped their minds and hearts. The term "lies" often refers to idols (Jeremiah 5:3, 6; 7:24; 9:6; Proverbs 24:16; Isaiah 44:20; Amos 5:2; Micah 7:8).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. "Is it not a natural instinct, that if one falls, he rises again; if one turns away (that is, wanders from the way), he will return to the point from which he wandered? Why then does not Jerusalem do so?" He plays on the double sense of return; literal and metaphorical (Jr 3:12; 4:1).Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 8:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 8
- 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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