Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?
Parallel translations
- WEB Will you not from this time cry to me, ‘My Father, you are the guide of my youth?’
- BSB Have you not just called to Me, ‘My Father, You are my friend from 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 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 2:2Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
- Jer 3:19But 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.
- Jer 31:9They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
- Hos 2:15And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
- Ps 71:17O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.
- Jer 2:27Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
- Jer 31:18–20I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
- Prov 2:17Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
- Mal 2:14Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
- Hos 14:1–3O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
- Prov 1:4To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
- Ps 71:5For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth.
- Ps 48:14For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.
- Ps 119:9Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 3:4 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.