Yet I thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
Parallel translations
- WEB I said after she had done all these things, ‘She will return to me;’ but she didn’t return; and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
- KJV And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
- BSB I thought that after she had done all these things, she would return to Me. But she did not return, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it.
- NKJV And I said, after she had done all these things, ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
- NLT I thought, ‘After she has done all this, she will return to me.’ But she did not return, and her faithless sister Judah saw this.
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 hoped Israel would return, but she did not, and Judah saw it. Both sisters witness and repeat the same sin.
Overview
Yahweh recalls expecting faithless Israel to return, yet she would not, while her treacherous sister Judah looked on. The two kingdoms are pictured as sisters, with Judah observing Israel's example. God's patient hope for repentance is met with continued rebellion, setting up His verdict on both.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ezek 16:46Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells at your left hand, she and her daughters; and your younger sister, who dwells at your right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.
- Ezek 23:2–4“Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother.
- 2 Chr 30:6–12So the couriers went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, “You children of Israel, turn again to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to the remnant of you that have escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.
- Hos 6:1–4“Come, and let us return to Yahweh; for he has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has injured us, and he will bind up our wounds.
- 2 Kgs 17:13–14Yet Yahweh testified to Israel, and to Judah, by every prophet, and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”
- Jer 3:8–11I saw when, for this very cause, that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce, yet treacherous Judah, her sister, had no fear; but she also went and played the prostitute.
- Hos 14:1Israel, return to Yahweh your God; for you have fallen because of your sin.
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 3:7 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.