Jeremiah 4:1

Jeremiah 4:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.
• English Standard Version (ESV)"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,
• New King James Version (NKJV)“If you will return, O Israel,” says the Lord, “Return to Me; And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, Then you shall not be moved.
• New Living Translation (NLT)“O Israel,” says the Lord, “if you wanted to return to me, you could. You could throw away your detestable idols and stray away no more.

Context of Jeremiah 4:1

“If you, Israel, will return, then return to me,” declares the Lord. “If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray, 2and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’ then the nations will invoke blessings by him and in him they will boast.” 3This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns.

Jeremiah 4:1 word by word

אִם־תָּשׁ֨וּב יִשְׂרָאֵ֧ל׀ נְאֻם־יְהוָ֛ה אֵלַ֖י תָּשׁ֑וּב וְאִם־תָּסִ֧יר שִׁקּוּצֶ֛יךָ מִפָּנַ֖י וְלֹ֥א תָנֽוּד׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• If thou wilt returnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
• O Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• saithנְאֻםne'ûm · utteranceH5002
• the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• unto me: and if thou wilt put awayסוּרsûr ώûr · to turn aside: removeH5493
• thine abominationsשִׁקּוּץshiqqûts shiqqûts · abominationH8251
• out of my sightפָּנֶהpânîym · faceH6440
• then shalt thou not removeנוּדnûd · to wanderH5110

Cross-references for Jeremiah 4:1

• Jeremiah 4:4Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, circumcise your hearts, you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or my wrath will flare up and burn like fire because of the evil you have done— burn with no one to quench it.
• Jeremiah 3:12Go, proclaim this message toward the north: “ ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will frown on you no longer, for I am faithful,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will not be angry forever.
• Jeremiah 3:1“If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers— would you now return to me?” declares the Lord.
• Isaiah 31:6Return, you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted against.
• Hosea 7:16They do not turn to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because of their insolent words. For this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.
• Hosea 14:1Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall!
• Joel 2:12“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
• Genesis 35:2So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.
• Deuteronomy 27:15“Cursed is anyone who makes an idol—a thing detestable to the Lord, the work of skilled hands—and sets it up in secret.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
• Joshua 24:14“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
• Judges 10:16Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord. And he could bear Israel’s misery no longer.
• 1 Samuel 7:3So Samuel said to all the Israelites, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”
• 2 Kings 23:13The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon.
• 2 Chronicles 15:8When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.
• Ezekiel 11:18“They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols.
• Ezekiel 18:13He lends at interest and takes a profit. Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he is to be put to death; his blood will be on his own head.

Commentaries on Jeremiah 4:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Shalt thou not remove - This was spoken before the Babylonish captivity; and here is a promise that if they will return from their idolatry, they shall not be led into captivity. So, even that positively threatened judgment would have been averted had they returned to the Lord.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Return - The repentance of Israel described in Jeremiah 3:21-25 was a hope, and not a reality. The return, literally, would be their restoration to their land; spiritually, their abandoning their sins. Jeremiah 4:1-2 should be translated as follows: If thou wouldst return, O Israel, saith Yahweh. Unto Me thou shalt return: And if thou wouldst remove thy abominations from before Me, And not wander to and fro, But wouldst swear truly, uprightly; and justly…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1Exhortations and promises. (Jr 4:1-2) Judah exhorted to repentance. (Jr 4:3-4) Judgements denounced. (Jr 4:5-18) The approaching ruin of Judah. (Jr 4:19-31) Verse 1 ,2 The first two verses should be read with the last chapter. Sin must be put away out of the heart, else it is not put away out of God's sight, for the heart is open before him.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1The Lord noticed that even though the people prayed beautifully, they did not plan to discard their idols or change their way of living (Jeremiah 15:19; Joel 2:12).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-311. return ... return--play on words. "If thou wouldest return to thy land (thou must first), return (by conversion and repentance) to Me." not remove--no longer be an unsettled wanderer in a strange land. So Cain (Ge 4:12, 14).Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 4:1

• Backsliders
• Condescension of God
• Repentance

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Bless
• Fallow
• Pain
• Wise
• Abomination
• Abomination of Desolation
• Backslide

Commentaries on Jeremiah 4

• 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