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Amplified Bible

Jeremiah 3:14

'Return, O faithless children [of the twelve tribes],' says the LORD, 'For I am a master and husband to you, And I will take you [not as a nation, but individually]—one from a city and two from a [tribal] family— And I will bring you to Zion.'

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Backsliders;   Church;   Condescension of God;   God Continued...;   Husband;   Israel, Prophecies Concerning;   Jesus, the Christ;   Marriage;   Repentance;   Thompson Chain Reference - Marriage;   The Topic Concordance - Covenant;   Israel/jews;   Jerusalem;   Shepherds/pastors;   Turning;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Backsliding;   Conversion;   Marriage;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Solomon's Song;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Marriage;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Idol;   Israel;   Marriage;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Backsliding;   Jeremiah;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Marriage;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Adultery ;   Turning;   Worldliness;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Backslider;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Ammi;   Husband;   Jeremiah;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Marriage;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Kingdom of Judah;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Backslide;   Children of God;   Divorce in Old Testament;   Envy;   Ezekiel;   Husband;   Jeremiah (2);   Number;   Repentance;   Zion;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Conversion to Christianity;   Elisha ben Abuyah;   Forgiveness;   God, Children of;   Numbers and Numerals;   Reverts, Admission of;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“‘Return, you faithless children—this is the Lord’s declaration—for I am your master, and I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
Hebrew Names Version
Return, backsliding children, says the LORD; for I am a husband to you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Tziyon:
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:
English Standard Version
Return, O faithless children, declares the Lord ; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
New American Standard Bible
'Return, you faithless sons,' declares the LORD; 'For I am a master to you, And I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, And bring you to Zion.'
New Century Version
"Come back to me, you unfaithful children," says the Lord , "because I am your master. I will take one person from every city and two from every family group, and I will bring you to Jerusalem.
World English Bible
Return, backsliding children, says Yahweh; for I am a husband to you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
Geneva Bible (1587)
O yee disobedient children, turne againe, sayeth the Lorde, for I am your Lorde, and I will take you one of a citie, and two of a tribe and wil bring you to Zion,
Legacy Standard Bible
‘Return, O faithless sons,' declares Yahweh;‘For I am a master to you,And I will take you one from a city and two from a family,And I will bring you to Zion.'
Berean Standard Bible
"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.
Contemporary English Version
You are unfaithful children, but you belong to me. Come home! I'll take one or two of you from each town and clan and bring you to Zion.
Complete Jewish Bible
"Return, backsliding children," says Adonai ; "for I am your master. I will take you, one from a city, two from a family, and bring you to Tziyon.
Darby Translation
Return, backsliding children, saith Jehovah; for I am a husband unto you, and I will take you, one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord says, "You people are unfaithful, but come back to me because I am your master. I will take one person from every city and two people from every family and bring you to Zion.
George Lamsa Translation
Repent, O backsliding children, says the LORD; for I was pleased with you; and took one person of you from every town and two from every family, and I brought you to Zion.
Good News Translation
"Unfaithful people, come back; you belong to me. I will take one of you from each town and two from each clan, and I will bring you back to Mount Zion.
Lexham English Bible
"Return, apostate children," declares Yahweh. "For I am your master, and I will take you one from a city and two from a clan, and I will bring you to Zion.
Literal Translation
Return, O apostate sons, declares Jehovah; for I am Lord over you. And I will take you, one from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
O ye shrenkinge children, turne agayne, saieth the LORDE, and I wilbe maried with you. For I will take one out of the citie and two out of one generacion from amoge you, and bringe you out of Sion:
American Standard Version
Return, O backsliding children, saith Jehovah; for I am a husband unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
Bible in Basic English
Come back, O children who are turned away, says the Lord; for I am a husband to you, and I will take you, one from a town and two from a family, and will make you come to Zion;
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Return, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am a lord unto you, and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion;
King James Version (1611)
Turne, O backesliding children, saith the Lord, for I am maried vnto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I wil bring you to Zion.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
O ye disobedient childre, turne againe saith the Lorde, and I wyll be maryed with you: for I wyll take one out of the citie, and two out of one generation from among you, and bryng you into Sion,
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Turn, ye children that have revolted, saith the Lord; for I will rule over you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you in to Sion:
English Revised Version
Return, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am a husband unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Be ye conuertid, sones, turnynge ayen, seith the Lord, for Y am youre hosebonde; and Y schal take you oon of a citee, and tweyne of a kynrede, and Y schal lede you in to Sion;
Update Bible Version
Return, O backsliding sons, says Yahweh; for I am a husband to you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
Webster's Bible Translation
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married to you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
New English Translation
"Come back to me, my wayward sons," says the Lord , "for I am your true master. If you do, I will take one of you from each town and two of you from each family group, and I will bring you back to Zion.
New King James Version
"Return, O backsliding children," says the LORD; "for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
New Living Translation
"Return home, you wayward children," says the Lord , "for I am your master. I will bring you back to the land of Israel— one from this town and two from that family— from wherever you are scattered.
New Life Bible
‘Return, O sons who are not faithful,' says the Lord. ‘For you belong to Me. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.'
New Revised Standard
Return, O faithless children, says the Lord , for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Return, ye apostate sons, Urgeth Yahweh, for, I, am become your husband, - therefore will I take you one of a city, and two of a family, and will bring you to Zion;
Douay-Rheims Bible
Return, O ye revolting children, saith the Lord: for I am your I husband: and I will take you, one of a city, and two of a kindred, and will bring you into Sion.
Revised Standard Version
Return, O faithless children, says the LORD; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
Young's Literal Translation
Turn back, O backsliding sons, An affirmation of Jehovah. For I have ruled over you, And taken you one of a city, and two of a family, And have brought you to Zion,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
'Return, O faithless sons,' declares the LORD; 'For I am a master to you, And I will take you one from a city and two from a family, And I will bring you to Zion.'

Contextual Overview

12"Go and proclaim these words toward the north [where the ten tribes have been taken as captives] and say, 'Return, faithless Israel,' says the LORD; 'I will not look on you in anger. For I am gracious and merciful,' says the LORD; 'I will not be angry forever. 13'Only understand fully and acknowledge your wickedness and guilt, That you have rebelled (transgressed) against the LORD your God And have scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,' says the LORD. 14'Return, O faithless children [of the twelve tribes],' says the LORD, 'For I am a master and husband to you, And I will take you [not as a nation, but individually]—one from a city and two from a [tribal] family— And I will bring you to Zion.' 15"Then [in the final time] I will give you [spiritual] shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and [true] understanding. 16"It will be in those days when you have [repented and] multiplied and increased in the land," says the LORD, "they will no longer say, 'The ark of the covenant of the LORD.' It will not come to mind, nor will they [seriously] remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again [for instead of the ark, which symbolized My presence, I will be present]. 17"At that time they will call Jerusalem 'The Throne of the LORD,' and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name (renown) of the LORD; and they will not walk anymore after the stubbornness of their [own] evil heart. 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 your fathers as an inheritance. 19"Then I said, 'How [gloriously and honorably] I would set you among My children And give you a pleasant land—a wonderful heritage, The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!' And I said, 'You shall call Me, My Father And not turn away from following Me.'

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

O backsliding: Jeremiah 2:19

for I am married: Jeremiah 3:1, Jeremiah 3:8, Jeremiah 2:2, Jeremiah 31:32, Isaiah 54:5, Hosea 2:19, Hosea 2:20

one of a city: Jeremiah 23:3, Jeremiah 31:8-10, Isaiah 1:9, Isaiah 6:13, Isaiah 10:22, Isaiah 11:11, Isaiah 11:12, Isaiah 17:6, Isaiah 24:13-15, Ezekiel 34:11-14, Zechariah 13:7-9, Romans 9:27, Romans 11:4-6

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 7:6 - We have sinned Nehemiah 1:9 - will bring Psalms 87:3 - Glorious Proverbs 1:23 - Turn Isaiah 27:12 - ye shall be Isaiah 31:6 - Turn Isaiah 43:6 - bring Isaiah 62:4 - Beulah Jeremiah 4:1 - return Jeremiah 11:15 - my Jeremiah 23:4 - I Jeremiah 31:21 - O Jeremiah 31:22 - backsliding Jeremiah 35:15 - Return Jeremiah 49:4 - O backsliding Hosea 2:16 - Ishi Hosea 12:6 - turn Zephaniah 2:3 - Seek ye

Cross-References

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more crafty (subtle, skilled in deceit) than any living creature of the field which the LORD God had made. And the serpent (Satan) said to the woman, "Can it really be that God has said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
Genesis 3:15
"And I will put enmity (open hostility) Between you and the woman, And between your seed (offspring) and her Seed; He shall [fatally] bruise your head, And you shall [only] bruise His heel."
Genesis 3:20
The man named his wife Eve (life spring, life giver), because she was the mother of all the living.
Genesis 9:6
"Whoever sheds man's blood [unlawfully], By man (judicial government) shall his blood be shed, For in the image of God He made man.
Leviticus 20:25
'You are therefore to make a distinction between the [ceremonially] clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything that crawls on the ground, which I have set apart from you as unclean.
Psalms 72:9
The nomads of the desert will bow before him, And his enemies will lick the dust.
Isaiah 29:4
Then you [Jerusalem] will be brought low, You will speak from the earth, And from the dust where you lie face down Your muffled words will come. Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the earth [like one produced by a medium], And your speech will whisper and squeak from the dust.
Isaiah 65:25
"The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox [there will no longer be predator and prey]; and dust will be the serpent's food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain (Zion)," says the LORD.
Micah 7:17
They shall lick the dust like a serpent; Like crawling things of the earth They shall come trembling out of their fortresses and hiding places. They shall turn and come with fear and dread to the LORD our God And they shall be afraid and stand in awe before You [O LORD].

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord,.... All of them were children by national adoption, and some by special grace, and yet "backsliders", O monstrous ingratitude! "backsliders", and yet "children", still the relation continues, O marvellous grace! God's own children may backslide, and often do; either in heart, when love waxes cold, faith declines, zeal wanting; when they get into a carnal sleepy frame of spirit, and have not that quick sense of sin, and of duty, as heretofore: or in practice, when private prayer is restrained; public worship is neglected; get into bad company, and fall into gross sins; all which is owing to the prevalence of indwelling sin, the force of Satan's temptations, and the enticing snares of the world; but God will not leave them, he calls unto them again and again to turn unto him by repentance, and to doing their first works; which calls, at length, through powerful grace, become effectual; see Jeremiah 3:22 and the arguments used to engage to it follow,

for I am married unto you; in a civil sense as a nation, Jeremiah 31:32, and in a spiritual sense to a remnant of them; Christ is the bridegroom, the church is the bride, which he has secretly betrothed to himself in eternity; openly in time, at the conversion of everyone of them; and will more publicly at the last day, when all are gathered in and prepared for him. This relation, as it is a very near one, so it is very astonishing, considering the disparity between the two parties, and it always continues; love, the bond of it, never alters; the covenant, in which this transaction is carried on, is ever sure; and Christ always behaves agreeably to it; wherefore it is base ingratitude to backslide; and reason there is sufficient why his backsliding spouse should return to him. The Septuagint version is, "because I will rule over you." agreeable to which is Jarchi's note,

"because I am your Lord, and it is not for my glory, (or honour) to leave you in the hand of enemies.''

Kimchi's father interprets the word used by קצתי, "I loath you", or I am weary of you; the reverse of which is the Targum,

"for I am well pleased with you;''

and so the Syriac version, "I delight in you"; which carries in it a much more engaging argument to return, and agrees with what follows:

and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family: or tribe, or country; for sometimes a whole country is called a family, as in Jeremiah 1:15 and here it must design more than a city; for otherwise there are many families in a city; the meaning is, according to Kimchi, that though there may be but one Jew in a city of the Gentiles, or two only in a nation, the Lord would take them from thence; and, according to others, that though one or two, or a few, here and there one of the backsliders, should return to him by true repentance, he would receive them graciously; the smallness of their number would be no objection to him; which is a sense not to be despised: but the phrase seems to denote the distinguishing grace of God to his people; which appears in the choice of them in his Son; the redemption of them by him; and the sanctification of them by his Spirit; and very few are the objects of his grace, as it were one of a city, and two of a tribe; however, they shall none of them be lost, notwithstanding their backslidings, to which they are bent: for it is added,

and I will bring you to Zion; to the church of God here, a Gospel church state, whither to come is the great privilege of the saints,

Hebrews 12:22 and to the Zion above, the heavenly state, where all the chosen and ransomed, and sanctified ones, shall come, with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads, Isaiah 35:10 and all as the fruit of distinguishing and efficacious grace.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Children ... married - The twofold relationship gives a double certainty of acceptance. As children, they were sure of a father’s love, as a wife they might hope for a revival of past affection from the husband of their youth.

One of a city, and two of a family - The family (in Hebrew) is far larger than a city, as it embraces all the descendants of a common ancestor. Thus, the tribe of Judah was divided into only four or five families. However national the apostasy, it does not involve in its guilt the few who are faithful, and the promises are still their rightful possession.

To Zion - To the true Church. The fulfillment of the promise began with the return to Palestine after the Babylonian exile, but is complete only in Christianity.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 3:14. I will take you one of a city, and two of a family — If there should be but one of a city left, or one willing to return, and two only of a whole tribe, yet will I receive these, and bring them back from captivity into their own land. I have heard these words most sinfully applied to show the nature of a fancied eternal decree of election, that has appointed in several cases one only out of a whole city, and two out of a whole family, to be eternally saved, leaving the rest, according to the decree of reprobation, to perish everlastingly! And yet these persons, who spoke thus of the Fountain of eternal goodness and mercy, professed to believe in Him who by the grace of God tasted death for every man.


 
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