Jeremiah 3:12

Go, proclaim this message toward the north: ‘Return, O faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will no longer look on you with anger, for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will not be angry forever.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — The LORD commands Jeremiah to deliver a message northward to the exiled northern kingdom of Israel. This sits between the LORD's declaration that Israel has shown herself more righteous than Judah (v. 11) and His demand that they acknowledge their guilt (v. 13).

The words — שׁוּבָה (shu.va/h), "return!" (H7725), is a bare imperative with no softening clause — the entire call to repentance compressed into one syllable. It carries the same weight as the repeated "return" commands throughout the prophetic literature.

The thread — The same logic runs through Ezekiel 33:11, where the LORD declares He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, and Deuteronomy 4:29, where seeking the LORD with all the heart is met with finding Him. Psalms 86:15 supplies the character description: slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.

Why it lands — The verse does not ask for a feeling; it asks for a direction — a turn. The condition is not performance but acknowledgment, and the ground is not human merit but the LORD's stated mercy.

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

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.

Cross-references

Psalms 86:15 But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.
Ezekiel 33:11 Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Jeremiah 3:22 “Return, O faithless children, and I will heal your faithlessness.” “Here we are. We come to You, for You are the LORD our God.
Hosea 14:1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity.
Micah 7:18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
Jeremiah 3:18 In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave to your fathers as an inheritance.
Jeremiah 31:20 Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 33:26 then I would also reject the descendants of Jacob and of My servant David, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore them from captivity and will have compassion on them.”
Deuteronomy 30:2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey His voice with all your heart and all your soul according to everything I am giving you today,