English Standard Version
Jeremiah 8:4
4"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?
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?
- 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?
- New Living Translation (NLT)“Jeremiah, say to the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: “‘When people fall down, don’t they get up again? When they discover they’re on the wrong road, don’t they turn back?
Context of Jeremiah 8:4
2And they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped. And they shall not be gathered or buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. 3Death shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family in all the places where I have driven them, declares the Lord of hosts. "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? 5Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return. 6I have paid attention and listened, but they have not spoken rightly; no man relents of his evil, saying, 'What have I done?' Everyone turns to his own course, like a horse plunging headlong 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 24:16for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.
- Hosea 14:1Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
- Amos 5:2"Fallen, no more to rise, is the virgin Israel; forsaken on her land, with none to raise her up."
- Micah 7:8Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.
- Jeremiah 3:1"If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man's wife, will he return to her? Would not that land be greatly polluted? You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? declares the Lord.
- Jeremiah 4:1"If you return, O Israel, declares the Lord, to me you should return. If you remove your detestable things from my presence, and do not waver,
- Jeremiah 23:14But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil; all of them have become like Sodom to me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah."
- Jeremiah 36:3It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin."
- 1 Kings 8:38whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house,
- Isaiah 44:22I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.
- Isaiah 55:7let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
- Ezekiel 18:23Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?
- Hosea 6:1"Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
- Hosea 7:10The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him, for all this.
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries