Will you not from this time cry to me, ‘My Father, you are the guide of my youth?’
Parallel translations
- KJV Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?
- BSB Have you not just called to Me, ‘My Father, You are my friend from youth.
- ESV Have you not just now called to me, ‘My father, you are the friend of my youth—
- NKJV Will you not from this time cry to Me, ‘My Father, You are the guide of my youth?
- NASB “Have you not just now called to Me, ‘My Father, You are the friend of my youth?
- NLT Yet you say to me, ‘Father, you have been my guide since my youth.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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 appeals for them to call Him Father and guide of their youth. He longs for a restored relationship.
Overview
Yahweh asks whether they will now cry to Him, 'My Father, you are the guide of my youth.' Beneath the rebuke runs a tender appeal for the people to return to a childlike trust. The fatherhood of God toward His people anticipates the intimacy believers enjoy in Christ as adopted children.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Jer 2:2“Go, and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “I remember for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your weddings; how you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
- Jer 3:19“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.’
- 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.
- Hos 2:15I will give her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she will respond there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
- Ps 71:17God, you have taught me from my youth. Until now, I have declared your wondrous works.
- Jer 2:27who tell wood, ‘You are my father;’ and a stone, ‘You have given birth to me:’ for they have turned their back to me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise, and save us.’
- Jer 31:18–20“I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untrained calf: turn me, and I shall be turned; for you are Yahweh my God.
- Prov 2:17who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God:
- Mal 2:14Yet you say, ‘Why?’ Because Yahweh has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion, and the wife of your covenant.
- Hos 14:1–3Israel, return to Yahweh your God; for you have fallen because of your sin.
- Prov 1:4to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young man:
- Ps 71:5For you are my hope, Lord Yahweh; my confidence from my youth.
- Ps 48:14For this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even to death.
- Ps 119:9How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 3:4 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.