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.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The LORD speaks to Israel through Jeremiah following Ephraim’s expression of repentance and shame over past rebellion. The declaration addresses the northern tribes in the immediate context of a call to return to their cities.

The words — יַקִּיר (ya.Kir) translates to “precious” or “dear,” and שַׁעֲשׁוּעִים (sha.'a.shu.'Im) means “delights” or “pleasures.” These terms frame Ephraim not as a rejected outcast but as a valued child whose memory persists despite divine correction.

The thread — The motif of God’s enduring compassion amid judgment echoes Isaiah 55:7 and Micah 7:18, where repentance meets divine pardon. Judges 10:16 similarly records God’s relief when Israel abandons idolatry, confirming a consistent pattern of covenantal mercy.

Why it lands — The verse demands acknowledgment that divine discipline does not cancel covenant love. It requires the reader to accept that God’s memory of his people precedes his anger, making return a response to established grace rather than a condition for earning it.

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

Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord.

Cross-references

Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.
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?
Judges 10:16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and He could no longer bear the misery of Israel.
Psalms 103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
Isaiah 63:15 Look down from heaven and see, from Your holy and glorious habitation. Where are Your zeal and might? Your yearning and compassion for me are restrained.
Lamentations 3:31 For the Lord will not cast us off forever.
Hosea 14:4 I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them.
Luke 15:24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.
Isaiah 16:11 Therefore my heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir-heres.
Jeremiah 48:36 Therefore My heart laments like a flute for Moab; it laments like a flute for the men of Kir-heres, because the wealth they acquired has perished.