Jeremiah 15:19

Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak words that are noble instead of worthless, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must turn to you, but you must not turn to them.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Yahweh addresses Jeremiah directly, responding to his complaint in the preceding verse that God has become a mirage. The tone is conditional and personal, not a general pronouncement.

The words — תָּשׁוּב (ta.Shuv), "you will return," from the root שׁוּב (shuv), "to turn back." It is the hinge on which the entire promise of restoration and spokesman role depends.

The thread — Zechariah 3:7 mirrors the structure: conditional obedience ("if you walk in My ways") leading to a granted position before God's house. The pattern is not reward for merit but access for alignment.

Why it lands — The verse reverses the expected pursuit: "It is they who must turn to you, but you must not turn to them." It asks the reader to hold a position of speech without chasing an audience, and to distinguish between words that carry weight and those that do not.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.

Cross-references

Zechariah 3:7 “This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘If you walk in My ways and keep My instructions, then you will govern My house and will also have charge of My courts; and I will give you a place among these who are standing here.
Luke 21:15 For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.
Leviticus 10:10 You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the clean and the unclean,
Ezekiel 44:23 They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to discern between the clean and the unclean.
Ezekiel 22:26 Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
Jude 1:24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—
Galatians 1:10 Am I now seeking the approval of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.
Exodus 4:12 Now go! I will help you as you speak, and I will teach you what to say.”
Exodus 4:15 You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak, and I will teach you what to do.