Bible Strands
Jeremiah 3:14
“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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD addresses Israel as faithless children at a moment of active covenant breach, following their admission of scattering favors to foreign gods and disobeying His voice.
The words — The command שׁוּבוּ (Shuvu) means "return," directed at בָנִים שׁוֹבָבִים (banim shovavim), literally "backsliding sons." God declares אָנֹכִי בַעַלְתִּי (ani ba'alti), "I am your master/husband," establishing His enduring claim over them.
The thread — This call to return echoes the betrothal language of Hosea 2:19 and the broken covenant warning of Jeremiah 31:32, while the theme of self-inflicted discipline aligns with Jeremiah 2:19.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment of rebellion and a decisive return to Yahweh before promising future guidance through appointed shepherds. It requires readers to recognize that covenant restoration begins with repentance, not ritual.
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
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:
Cross-references
- Hosea 2:19 So I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in loving devotion and compassion.
- Jeremiah 2:19 Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.
- Jeremiah 31:32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.
- Isaiah 54:5 For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.
- Jeremiah 31:8 Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, including the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor. They will return as a great assembly!
- Ezekiel 34:11 For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out.
- Zechariah 13:7 Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the man who is My Companion, declares the LORD of Hosts. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones.
- Isaiah 6:13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will be burned again. As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when felled, so the holy seed will be a stump in the land.”
- Isaiah 10:22 Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
- Isaiah 11:11 On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.