Jeremiah 3 · Verse 14

Jeremiah 3:14

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:
Jeremiah 3:14, King James Version

Jeremiah 3:14 in other translations

BSB“Return, O faithless children,” declares the LORD, “for I am your master, and I will take you—one from a city and two from a family—and bring you to Zion.
WEB“Return, backsliding children,” says the LORD, “for I am a husband to you. I will take one of you from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
ASVReturn, O backsliding children, saith Jehovah; for I am a husband unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
YLTTurn back, O backsliding sons, An affirmation of Jehovah. For I have ruled over you, And taken you one of a city, and two of a family, And have brought you to Zion,
DARBYReturn, backsliding children, saith Jehovah; for I am a husband unto you, and I will take you, one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
BBECome back, O children who are turned away, says the Lord; for I am a husband to you, and I will take you, one from a town and two from a family, and will make you come to Zion;
WebsterTurn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married to you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

What does Jeremiah 3:14 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
14. 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 force in English Version than in that of Gesenius. The Hebrew hardly admits the rendering though [Hengstenberg]. take you one of a city--Though but one or two Israelites were in a (foreign) city, they shall not be forgotten; all shall be restored (Am 9:9). So, in the spiritual Israel, God gathers one convert here, another there, into His Church; not the least one is lost (Mt 18:14; Ro 11:5; compare Jr 24:5-7). family--a clan or tribe.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 14 I 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 saved, leaving the rest, according to the decree of reprobation, to perish everlastingly! And yet these persons, who spoke thus of the Fountain of eternal goodness and mercy, professed to believe in Him who by the grace of God tasted death for every man.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Jeremiah 3:12-20

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…

Read the full comment on Jeremiah 3:12-20 →

Jeremiah 3:14 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

שׁ֣וּבוּShu.vureturnH7725
בָנִ֤יםva.NimO sonsH1121
שׁוֹבָבִים֙shoa.VimbackslidingH7726
נְאֻם\־ne.'um-[the] utterance ofH5002
יְהוָ֔הYah.wehYahwehH3068
כִּ֥יkiforH3588
אָנֹכִ֖י'a.no.KhiIH595
בָּעַ֣לְתִּיba.'Al.tiI am husbandH1166
בָכֶ֑םva.Khemover <the> you
וְלָקַחְתִּ֨יve.la.kach.Tiand I will takeH3947
אֶתְכֶ֜ם'et.Khem<obj.> youH853
אֶחָ֣ד'e.ChadoneH259
מֵעִ֗ירme.'Irfrom a cityH5892
וּשְׁנַ֙יִם֙u.she.Na.yimand twoH8147
מִמִּשְׁפָּחָ֔הmi.mish.pa.Chahfrom a clanH4940
וְהֵבֵאתִ֥יve.he.ve.Tiand I will bringH935
אֶתְכֶ֖ם'et.Khem<obj.> youH853
צִיּֽוֹן\׃tzi.YonZionH6726

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Jeremiah 3:14

  • Hosea 2:19-20

    And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.

  • Jeremiah 2:19

    Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.

  • Jeremiah 31:32

    Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:

  • Isaiah 54:5

    For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

  • Ezekiel 34:11-14

    For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.

  • Jeremiah 31:8-10

    Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.

  • Zechariah 13:7-9

    Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

  • Isaiah 6:13

    But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

  • Isaiah 10:22

    For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

  • Isaiah 11:11-12

    And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

  • Jeremiah 3:8

    And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

  • Jeremiah 23:3

    And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
O backsliding.
2:19
for I am married.
1,8; 2:2; 31:32; Isa 54:5; Ho 2:19,20
one of a city.
23:3; 31:8-10; Isa 1:9; 6:13; 10:22; 11:11,12; 17:6; 24:13-15
Eze 34:11-14; Zec 13:7-9; Ro 9:27; 11:4-6

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Jeremiah 3:13

    Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord.

  • Jeremiah 3:14

    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:

  • Jeremiah 3:15

    And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

Read all of Jeremiah 3

Jeremiah 3:14 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Convertíos, hijos rebeldes, dice Jehová, porque yo soy vuestro esposo: y os tomaré uno de una ciudad, y dos de una familia, y os introduciré en Sión;
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Revenez, fils infidèles, dit l’ Éternel, car moi je vous ai épousés; et je vous prendrai, un d’une ville, et deux d’une famille, et je vous ferai venir à Sion.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Kehret um, ihr abtrünnigen Kinder, spricht Jehova, denn ich habe mich ja mit euch vermählt; und ich werde euch nehmen, einen aus einer Stadt und zwei aus einem Geschlecht, und euch nach Zion bringen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Convertimini, filii revertentes, dicit Dominus, quia ego vir vester: et assumam vos unum de civitate, et duos de cognatione, et introducam vos in Sion.