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which I commanded your forefathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey Me, and do everything I command you, and you will be My people, and I will be your God.’
Jeremiah 11:4 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace,’ saying, ‘Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so you shall be my people, and I will be your God;
  • KJV Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God:
  • NKJV which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God,’
  • NASB which I commanded your forefathers on the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Listen to My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God,’
  • NLT For I said to your ancestors when I brought them out of the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt, “If you obey me and do whatever I command you, then you will be my people, and I will be your God.”

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God recalls the covenant He gave at the Exodus, summed up in the promise to be their God if they obey.

Overview

The 'iron furnace' pictures Egypt's harsh oppression from which God rescued Israel by grace. The covenant formula 'you shall be my people, and I will be your God' expresses the heart of God's redemptive purpose. This relationship, broken by Israel's sin, is restored and secured in Christ, who makes a people for God's own possession (1 Peter 2:9-10).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 33

  • Lev 26:12I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.
  • Deut 4:20Yet the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today.
  • Jer 7:22–23For when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, I did not merely command them about burnt offerings and sacrifices,
  • 2 Cor 6:16What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”
  • 1 Kgs 8:51For they are Your people and Your inheritance; You brought them out of Egypt, out of the furnace for iron.
  • Zech 8:8I will bring them back to dwell in Jerusalem, where they will be My people, and I will be their faithful and righteous God.”
  • Jer 24:7I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart.
  • Deut 11:27a blessing if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you today,
  • Ezek 11:20so that they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.
  • Jer 30:22“And you will be My people, and I will be your God.”
  • Ezek 36:28Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God.
  • Jer 31:31–33Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
  • Exod 24:3–8When Moses came and told the people all the words and ordinances of the LORD, they all responded with one voice: “All the words that the LORD has spoken, we will do.”
  • Zech 13:9This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”
  • Ezek 37:23They will no longer defile themselves with their idols or detestable images, or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all their apostasies by which they sinned, and I will cleanse them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.
  • Jer 26:13So now, correct your ways and deeds, and obey the voice of the LORD your God, so that He might relent of the disaster He has pronounced against you.
  • Ezek 14:11in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions. Then they will be My people and I will be their God, declares the Lord GOD.’”
  • Heb 8:8–10But God found fault with the people and said: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
  • Lev 26:3If you follow My statutes and carefully keep My commandments,
  • Gen 17:8And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”
  • Ezek 20:6–12On that day I swore to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands.
  • Matt 28:20and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
  • Deut 5:2–3The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.
  • 1 Sam 15:22But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.
  • Heb 5:9And having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him
  • Zech 6:15Even those far away will come and build the temple of the LORD, and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.”
  • Jer 32:28Therefore this is what the LORD says: Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it.
  • Deut 29:10–15All of you are standing today before the LORD your God—you leaders of tribes, elders, officials, and all the men of Israel,
  • Ezek 37:27My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people.
  • Exod 20:6but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
  • Deut 28:1–14“Now if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God and are careful to follow all His commandments I am giving you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
  • Isa 48:10See, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
  • Exod 23:21–22Pay attention to him and listen to his voice; do not defy him, for he will not forgive rebellion, since My Name is in him.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Jeremiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Jeremiah 11:4YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JeremiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.

How Jeremiah 11:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.