Jeremiah 3:14

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 now. Shout this message to my people in the north: “You people of Israel have not been faithful to me. But now return to me,” says the Lord. “I will not always turn away from you. I am kind and I forgive people. I will not be angry with you for ever,” says the Lord. 13“But you must agree that you are guilty of sin. You have turned against me, the Lord your God. You have loved to serve many foreign gods. You have worshipped them under every big tree. You have not obeyed my commands.” ’ That is what the Lord says. The Lord says, ‘Return to me, you people who have turned away. Remember that you belong to me. If you turn back to me, I will choose one of you from each town and two from each family. I will bring you safely back to Zion. 15I will give you leaders who will serve me faithfully. They will take care of you like shepherds. They will be wise and they will lead you well. 16Then the number of your people who live in your land will increase. You will no longer need to talk about the Lord's Covenant Box. You will not think that it is important any more. You will forget all about it. You will not want to make another one.

Jeremiah 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 2:19The wicked things that you have done will punish you. You are guilty because you have turned away from me. You have brought terrible trouble on yourselves, because you have turned against me, the Lord your God. Because you no longer respect me, you will realize that you are in great trouble.’ That is what the Lord God Almighty says.
• Jeremiah 3:1The Lord says this: ‘If a man sends his wife away, she may leave him and marry another man. Then her first husband may not take her as his wife again. That would be a sin against the land where you live. But you have left me to live with other gods. You have lived like a prostitute, but you still think that you can return to me.
• Jeremiah 2:2He said, ‘Go and tell this to the people in Jerusalem: “This is what the Lord says: I remember how you used to love me when you were young. You loved me as a young wife loves her husband. You followed me through the wilderness, where no crops were growing.
• Jeremiah 31:32It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors. At that time, I brought them safely out of Egypt. I took care of them, like a faithful husband who takes care of his wife. But they did not obey my covenant.’ That is what the Lord says.
• Isaiah 54:5Now your Maker is your husband. His name is the Lord Almighty. Israel's Holy God is your Redeemer. He is called, ‘The God who rules the whole earth’.
• Hosea 2:19Israel, I will make you my wife for ever. I will promise to help you in a way that is right and fair. I will be kind to you with a faithful love.
• Jeremiah 23:3I myself will bring back together all my people who are still alive. I will fetch them from the countries where I have sent them. I will bring them back to the land that is their home. They will give birth to many children and they will grow in number.
• Jeremiah 31:8See what I will do! I will bring them back from the land in the north. Wherever they are, I will bring them back. A great crowd of my people will return. Blind people will be among them, and people who cannot walk well. There will be pregnant women and some who will very soon give birth.
• Isaiah 1:9Unless the Lord Almighty had left some of us alive, we would have become like Sodom. We would have been completely destroyed, like Gomorrah.
• Isaiah 6:13Even if only one tenth part of the people remain in the land, enemies will continue to destroy it. It will be like they are cutting down a great oak tree. But the base of the tree with its roots will still be there. From the part that remains, a holy branch will grow.’
• Isaiah 10:22Israel's people are now very many, as many as the sand on the shore of the sea. But only a few will remain to return. The Lord has decided to destroy you, people of Israel. His punishment is fair and right.
• Isaiah 11:11And on that day, the Lord God will bring his people back once again. He will lift up his powerful hand to rescue his people who are still alive. He will bring them back from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Babylonia, Hamath and from countries near the sea.
• Isaiah 17:6There will be only a few people that remain in Israel. They will be like a few olives that remain on a tree after the harvest. Perhaps two or three olives are still there on the highest branches. Four or five olives may remain on the other branches.’ That is what the Lord God of Israel says.
• Isaiah 24:13This is what will happen among all the nations on the earth. Only a few people will remain, like a few olives that remain on a tree after the harvest. After people have picked the grapes off a vine, there are only a few that remain.
• Ezekiel 34:11So this is what the Almighty Lord says: I myself will go and look for my sheep to bring them back.
• Zechariah 13:7‘Attack my shepherd with a sharp knife. Attack the man that is next to me,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Kill the shepherd and then the sheep will run away. Then I will attack the young sheep.

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

• Backsliders
• Church
• Condescension of God
• God Continued...
• Husband
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Jesus, the Christ
• Marriage
• Repentance

In the dictionaries

• Adultery
• Confusion
• Marriage
• Marry
• Reserve
• Backslide
• Children of God
• Envy
• Ezekiel
• Habaziniah

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