Jeremiah 4:1
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.
Jeremiah 4:1 in other translations
| BSB | “If you will return, O Israel, return to Me,” declares the LORD. “If you will remove your detestable idols from My sight and no longer waver, |
|---|---|
| WEB | “If you will return, Israel,” says the LORD, “if you will return to me, and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight; then you will not be removed; |
| ASV | If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith Jehovah, if thou wilt return unto me, and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight; then shalt thou not be removed; |
| YLT | If thou dost turn back, O Israel, An affirmation of Jehovah, unto Me turn back, And if thou dost turn aside Thine abominations from My face, Then thou dost not bemoan. |
| DARBY | If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith Jehovah, return unto me; and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not be a wanderer; |
| BBE | If you will come back, O Israel, says the Lord, you will come back to me: and if you will put away your disgusting ways, you will not be sent away from before me. |
| Webster | If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return to me: and if thou wilt put away thy abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove. |
What does Jeremiah 4:1 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Jr 4:1-31. Continuation of Address to the Ten Tribes of Israel. (Jr 4:1, 2). The Prophet Turns Again to Judah, to Whom He Had Originally Been Sent (Jr 4:3-31).
1. 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).Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Introduction
Sequel of the exhortations and promises addressed to Israel in the preceding chapter, Jer 4:1, Jer 4:2. The prophet then addresses the people of Judah and Jerusalem, exhorting to repentance and reformation, that the dreadful visitation with which they were threatened might be averted, Jer 4:3, Jer 4:4. He then sounds the alarm of war, Jer 4:5, Jer 4:6. Nebuchadnezzar, like a fierce lion, is, from the certainty of the prophecy, represented to be on his march; and the disastrous event to have been already declared, Jer 4:7-9. And as the lying prophets had flattered the people with the hopes of peace and safety, they are now introduced, (when their predictions are falsified by the event), excusing themselves; and, with matchless effrontery, laying the blame of the deception upon God, ("And they said," etc., so the text is corrected by Kennicott), Jer 4:10. The prophet immediately resumes his subject; and, in the person of God, denounces again those judgments which were shortly to be inflicted by Nebuchadnezzar, Jer 4:11-18. The approaching desolation of Jerusalem lamented in language amazingly energetic and exquisitely tender, Jer 4:19-21. The incorrigible wickedness of the people the sole cause of these calamities, Jer 4:22. In the remaining verses the prophet describes the sad catastrophe of Jerusalem by such a beautiful assemblage of the most striking and afflictive circumstances as form a picture of a land "swept with the besom of destruction." The earth seems ready to return to its original chaos; every ray of light is extinguished, and succeeded by a frightful gloom; the mountains tremble, and the hills shake, under the dreadful apprehension of the wrath of Jehovah; all is one awful solitude, where not a vestige of the human race is to be seen. Even the fowls of heaven, finding no longer whereon to subsist, are compelled to migrate; the most fruitful places are become a dark and dreary desert, and every city is a ruinous heap. To complete the whole, the dolorous shrieks of Jerusalem, as of a woman in peculiar agony, break through the frightful gloom; and the appalled prophet pauses, leaving the reader to reflect on the dreadful effects of apostasy and idolatry, Jer 4:23-31. Verse 1 Shalt 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.Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain
Jeremiah 4:1 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.
Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).
Cross references for Jeremiah 4:1
- Joel 2:12
Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
- 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.
- Ezekiel 43:9
Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcases of their kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever.
- Genesis 35:2
Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:
- Jeremiah 3:1
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord.
- Jeremiah 3:12
Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever.
- Jeremiah 25:5
They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
- 2 Chronicles 33:8
Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.
- 2 Kings 23:13
And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.
- Hosea 2:2
Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
- 2 Kings 23:24
Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.
- 1 Samuel 7:3
And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3 He exhorts Judah to repentance by fearful judgments.
19 A grievous lamentation for Judah.
wilt return.
4; 3:12,22
return.
3:1,14; Isa 31:6; Ho 7:16; 14:1; Joe 2:12
put away.
Ge 35:2; De 27:15; Jos 24:14; Jud 10:16; 1Sa 7:3; 2Ki 23:13,24
2Ch 15:8; Eze 11:18; 18:13; 20:7,8; 43:9; Ho 2:2; Eph 4:22-31
then shalt.
15:4; 22:3-5; 24:9; 25:5; 36:3; 2Ch 33:8
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain
Context
- Jeremiah 4:1
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.
- Jeremiah 4:2
And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
Jeremiah 4:1 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | SI te has de convertir, oh Israel, dice Jehová, conviértete á mí; y si quitares de delante de mí tus abominaciones, no andarás de acá para allá. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | Si tu reviens, ô Israël, dit l’ Éternel, reviens à moi; et si tu ôtes tes abominations de devant moi, tu ne seras plus errant, |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Wenn du umkehrst, Israel, spricht Jehova, zu mir umkehrst, und wenn du deine Scheusale von meinem Angesicht hinwegtust, und nicht mehr umherschweifst, sondern schwörst: |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Si reverteris, Israël, ait Dominus, ad me convertere: si abstuleris offendicula tua a facie mea, non commoveberis. |