“I thought to myself, ‘I would love to treat you as my own children!’ I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land— the finest possession in the world. I looked forward to your calling me ‘Father,’ and I wanted you never to turn from me.
Parallel translations
- WEB “But I said, ‘How I desire to put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations!’ and I said, ‘You shall call me “My Father”, and shall not turn away from following me.’
- KJV But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.
- BSB Then I said, ‘How I long to make you My sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of all the nations!’ I thought you would call Me ‘Father’ and never turn away from following Me.
- NKJV “But I said: ‘How can I put you among the children And give you a pleasant land, A beautiful heritage of the hosts of nations?’ “And I said: ‘You shall call Me, “My Father,” And not turn away from Me.’
- NASB “Then I said, ‘How I would set you among My sons And give you a pleasant land, The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’ And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My Father, And not turn away from following Me.’
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
Abner secures the support of Benjamin, Saul's own tribe, then goes to report it all to David at Hebron. The most resistant tribe is brought on board.
Overview
Abner gives special attention to Benjamin, Saul's tribe and the group most likely to resist David's rule. Having won them over, he travels to Hebron to lay before David all that Israel and Benjamin have agreed. The careful diplomacy shows God providentially removing every obstacle to David's God-promised throne.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 26
- Rom 8:15–17For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
- Jer 3:4Will you not from this time cry to me, ‘My Father, you are the guide of my youth?’
- Jer 31:9They shall come with weeping; and with petitions will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
- Isa 63:16For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh, are our Father. Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.
- 1 Jn 3:1–3See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him.
- Jer 32:39–40and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their good, and of their children after them:
- Matt 6:8–9Therefore don’t be like them, for your Father knows what things you need, before you ask him.
- Jer 31:20Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a darling child? for as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him,” says Yahweh.
- Gal 3:26For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus.
- Gal 4:5–7that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children.
- Dan 8:9Out of one of them came out a little horn, which grew exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious land.
- 2 Cor 6:17–18Therefore “‘Come out from among them, and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you.
- Eph 1:5having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire,
- John 1:11–13He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him.
- Hos 11:8“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within me, my compassion is aroused.
- Heb 10:39But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the saving of the soul.
- Prov 3:35The wise will inherit glory, but shame will be the promotion of fools.
- Isa 64:8But now, Yahweh, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you our potter. We all are the work of your hand.
- Jer 5:7“How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me, and sworn by what are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes’ houses.
- Dan 11:41He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
- Jer 12:10Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard. They have trodden my portion under foot. They have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
- Ezek 20:6in that day I swore to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.
- Dan 11:16But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and no one shall stand before him; and he shall stand in the glorious land, and in his hand shall be destruction.
- Ps 106:24Yes, they despised the pleasant land. They didn’t believe his word,
- Dan 11:45He shall plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one shall help him.
- 1 Pet 1:3–4Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
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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 3:19 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
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