Jeremiah 3 · Verse 21

Jeremiah 3:21

A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God.

Jeremiah 3:21, King James Version

Jeremiah 3:21 in other translations

BSB	A voice is heard on the barren heights, the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy, because they have perverted their ways and forgotten the LORD their God.
WEB	A voice is heard on the bare heights, the weeping and the petitions of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten the LORD their God.
ASV	A voice is heard upon the bare heights, the weeping and the supplications of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Jehovah their God.
YLT	A voice on high places is heard--weeping, Supplications of the sons of Israel, For they have made perverse their way, They have forgotten Jehovah their God.
DARBY	A voice is heard upon the heights, the weeping supplications of the children of Israel; for they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Jehovah their God.
BBE	A voice is sounding on the open hilltops, the weeping and the prayers of the children of Israel; because their way is twisted, they have not kept the Lord their God in mind.
Webster	A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.

What does Jeremiah 3:21 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

21. In harmony with the preceding promises of God, the penitential confessions of Israel are heard. high places--The scene of their idolatries is the scene of their confessions. Compare Jr 3:23, in which they cast aside their trust in these idolatrous high places. The publicity of their penitence is also implied (compare Jr 7:29; 48:38).

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 21 A voice was heard upon the high places - Here the Israelites are represented as assembled together to bewail their idolatry and to implore mercy. While thus engaged, they hear the gracious call of Jehovah: -

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Jeremiah 3:21-25

Sin is turning aside to crooked ways. And forgetting the Lord our God is at the bottom of all sin. By sin we bring ourselves into trouble. The promise to those that return is, God will heal their backslidings, by his pardoning mercy, his quieting peace, and his renewing grace. They come devoting themselves to God. They come disclaiming all expectations of relief and succour from any but the Lord. Therefore they come depending upon him only. He is the Lord, and he only can save. It points out the great salvation from sin Jesus Christ wrought out for us. They come justifying God in their troubles, and judging themselves for their sins. True penitents learn to call sin shame, even the sin they have been most pleased with. True penitents learn to call sin death and ruin, and to charge upon it all they suffer. While men harden themselves in sin, contempt and misery are their portion: for he that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but he that confesseth and forsaketh them, shall find mercy.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Jeremiah 3:21 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.

ק֚וֹלKola soundH6963

עַל\־'al-onH5921

שְׁפָיִ֣יםshe.fa.Yimbare heightsH8205

נִשְׁמָ֔עnish.Ma'[is] heardH8085

בְּכִ֥יbe.Khi[the] weeping ofH1065

תַחֲנוּנֵ֖יta.cha.nu.Nei[the] supplications ofH8469

בְּנֵ֣יbe.Nei[the] people ofH1121

יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478

כִּ֤יkiforH3588

הֶעֱוּוּ֙he.'e.Vuthey have pervertedH5753

אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853

דַּרְכָּ֔םdar.Kamway theirH1870

שָׁכְח֖וּsha.khe.Chuthey have forgottenH7911

אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853

יְהֹוָ֥הYah.wehYahwehH3068

אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם\׃'e.lo.hei.HemGod theirH430

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

Cross references for Jeremiah 3:21

2 Corinthians 7:10
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
Jeremiah 3:2
Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
Jeremiah 31:9
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.
Jeremiah 2:32
Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
Isaiah 17:10
Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:
Isaiah 15:2
He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off.
Hosea 8:14
For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
Zechariah 12:10-14
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; …
Proverbs 10:9
He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known.
Ezekiel 7:16
But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.
Proverbs 19:3
The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the Lord.
Jeremiah 30:15-17
Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee. Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey. For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

A voice.
30:15-17; 31:9,18-20; 50:4,5; Isa 15:2; Eze 7:16; Zec 12:10-14
2Co 7:10
for they have.
Nu 22:32; Job 33:27; Pr 10:9; 19:3; Mic 3:9
and they have.
2:32; Isa 17:10; Eze 23:35; Ho 8:14; 13:6

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

Context

Jeremiah 3:20
Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.
Jeremiah 3:21
A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God.
Jeremiah 3:22
Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God.

Read all of Jeremiah 3

Jeremiah 3:21 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Voz sobre las alturas fué oída, llanto de los ruegos de los hijos de Israel; porque han torcido su camino, de Jehová su Dios se han olvidado.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Une voix a été entendue sur les hauteurs, les pleurs et les supplications des fils d’Israël; car ils ont perverti leur voie, ils ont oublié l’ Éternel, leur Dieu.
German Elberfelder 1871	Eine Stimme wird gehört auf den kahlen Höhen, ein Weinen, ein Flehen der Kinder Israel; weil sie ihren Weg verkehrt, Jehovas, ihres Gottes, vergessen haben. -
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Vox in viis audita est, ploratus et ululatus filiorum Israël: quoniam iniquam fecerunt viam suam; obliti sunt Domini Dei sui.