God’s Word Translation
Jeremiah 3:4
4But now you are calling to me. You say, ‘Father! You have been my companion ever since I was young.
Jeremiah 3:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?
- New International Version (NIV)Have you not just called to me: ‘My Father, my friend from my youth,
- English Standard Version (ESV)Have you not just now called to me, 'My father, you are the friend of my youth—
- New King James Version (NKJV)Will you not from this time cry to Me, ‘My Father, You are the guide of my youth?
Context of Jeremiah 3:4
2“Look at the bare hills, and see. You have had sex with men in every place. You sat by the roadside waiting for them like a nomad in the desert. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and wickedness. 3So the rain has been withheld, and there have been no spring showers. Yet, you have the shameless look of a prostitute, and you refuse to blush. But now you are calling to me. You say, ‘Father! You have been my companion ever since I was young. 5He won’t hold a grudge forever. He won’t always be angry.’ You have said and done all the evil things that you could.” 6When Josiah was king, the Lord asked me, “Did you see what unfaithful Israel did? She went up every high mountain and under every large tree, and she acted like a prostitute there.
Read all of Jeremiah 3Jeremiah 3:4 word by word
הֲל֣וֹא מֵעַ֔תָּה קָרָ֥את לִ֖י אָבִ֑י אַלּ֥וּף נְעֻרַ֖י אָֽתָּה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Jeremiah 3:4
- Jeremiah 3:19“I wanted to treat you like children and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful property among the nations. I thought that you would call me Father and wouldn’t turn away from me.
- Jeremiah 31:9They will cry as they return. They will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams on a level path where they will not stumble. I will be a Father to Israel, and Ephraim will be my firstborn.
- Hosea 14:1Israel, return to the Lord your God. You have stumbled because of your sins.
- Jeremiah 2:27You call wood your father. You call stone your mother. You’ve turned your backs, not your faces, to me. But when you’re in trouble, you ask me to come and rescue you.
- Jeremiah 2:2“Go and announce to Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: I remember the unfailing loyalty of your youth, the love you had for me as a bride. I remember how you followed me into the desert, into a land that couldn’t be farmed.
- Psalms 48:14“This God is our God forever and ever. He will lead us beyond death.”
- Psalms 71:5You are my hope, O Almighty Lord. You have been my confidence ever since I was young.
- Psalms 119:9How can a young person keep his life pure? ⌞He can do it⌟ by holding on to your word.
- Proverbs 1:4to give insight to gullible people, to give knowledge and foresight to the young—
- Proverbs 2:17who leaves ⌞her husband,⌟ the closest friend of her youth, and forgets her marriage vows to her God.
- Hosea 2:15I will give her vineyards there. I will make the valley of Achor [Disaster] a door of hope. Then she will respond as she did when she was young, as she did when she came out of Egypt.
- Malachi 2:14But you ask, “Why ⌞aren’t our offerings accepted⌟?” It is because the Lord is a witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been unfaithful. Yet, she is your companion, the wife of your marriage vows.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 3:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Wilt thou not - cry unto me, My father - Wilt thou not allow me to be thy Creator and Preserver, and cease thus to acknowledge idols? See on Jeremiah 2:27; (note).Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Or, Hast thou Not from this time called “me, My Father, thou art the” husband “of my youth?” i. e., from the time of Josiah‘s reforms in his eighteenth year, in opposition to “of old time” Jeremiah 2:20.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-5Instead of confessing their sins, the people tried to hide them with sweet talk. However, God saw through their deception. They were right that he would not be angry forever (Psalm 103:9; Isaiah 57:16; Malachi 1:6), but he promised to show his wrath (Jeremiah 4:7).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. from this time--not referring, as Michaelis thinks, to the reformation begun the year before, that is, the twelfth of Josiah; it means--now at once, now at last. me--contrasted with the "stock" whom they had heretofore called on as "father" (Jr 2:27; Lu 15:18). thou art--rather, "thou wast." guide of ... youth--that is, husband (Jr 2:2; Pr 2:17; Ho 2:7, 15). Husband and father are the two most endearing of ties.Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 3:4
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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