Jeremiah 3:13
in Jeremiah 3Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the LORD your God. You have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every green tree and have not obeyed My voice,’” declares the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against Jehovah thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith Jehovah.
KJV
Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord.
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This verse in Jeremiah 3
Commentary
11 notes on this verse(Verse 12 onwards) Go, and cry out (or read) these words against the North, and say: Return, O backsliding Israel, declares the Lord, and I will not turn away (or strengthen) my face from you (or against you), for I am holy (or merciful), declares the Lord, and I will not be angry forever. However, know your iniquity, for you have transgressed against the Lord your God (or acted wickedly), and have scattered (or poured out) your ways to strangers under every green tree, and have not listened to my voice, says the Lord.
This site's exposition
Go, proclaim this message toward the north
on Jeremiah 3:12-13
The command to proclaim toward the north sends the invitation after the people Assyria had scattered there: “Return, O faithless Israel”. The reason is the LORD's character, “for I am merciful”. The one condition is honesty: “Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the LORD your God”.
This site's exposition
Only acknowledge your guilt
Acknowledge is literally know, to own the guilt as guilt. Deuteronomy 30:1 to 3 had promised a return from exile to a people who took the curse to heart. Scattered your favors pictures worship spread to every idol, far past the calves at Bethel.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
): " Only acknowledge thy iniquity, own thyself in a fault and thereby take shame to thyself and give glory to God." I will not keep my anger for ever (that is a previous promise); you shall be delivered form that anger of God which is everlasting, from the wrath to come; but upon what terms? Very easy and reasonable ones. Only acknowledge thy sins.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Wherever thou hast rambled thou hast left behind thee the marks of thy folly." (4.) We must aggravate our sin from the disobedience that there is in it to the divine law. The sinfulness of sin is the worst thing in it: " You have not obeyed my voice; acknowledge that, and let that humble you more than any thing else." II.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Only acknowledge thine iniquity,....
The charge renewed against them for their apostasy from God, and the invitation repeated to return and repent, to which are here added the words that are put in their mouth, which they should make use of in their return to God,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Acknowledge - literally, “know thy iniquity;” know that thy doings are iniquitous. Scattered thy ways - Wandered in search of those idolatries which foreign nations practice.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
BACKSLIDERS are very many. Departing from the living God is no strange thing. Every Church has to lament many that turn aside. In fact, it has become so common in many Churches, that they have not faith enough to hold to the Scriptural doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints—as if the lack of perseverance in mere professors could alter the Truth of God that where the life and power of God are really in the soul, there it will abide and remain.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Only acknowledge-- (De 30:1, 3; Pr 28:13). scattered thy ways, &c.-- (Jer 2:25). Not merely the calves at Beth-el, but the idols in every direction, were the objects of their worship (Eze 16:15, 24, 25).
BACKSLIDERS are very many. Departing from the living God is no strange thing. Every Church has to lament many that turn aside. In fact, it has become so common in many Churches, that they have not faith enough to hold to the Scriptural doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints—as if the lack of perseverance in mere professors could alter the Truth of God that where the life and power of God are really in the soul, there it will abide and remain. Bitter are the disappointments which result from the apostasy of avowed disciples and the declension of true followers of the Lamb. We sow, but when we expect to reap, we fill not our bosoms with sheaves, for many of those who sprung up hastily from the stony ground are withered as soon as the sun has risen! The morning cloud charms us with the hope of rain, but it soon vanishes—the early dew gives us promise of moisture, but it is exhaled—and the earth is hot beneath our feet. Our hearts ache because of blighted hopes where we looked for blessed results. And not only is it a common thing for men who profess godliness and, for a while, run well, suddenly to turn aside, but even God's own people do not keep up the pace as they should! Many Christians are one while hot, another lukewarm and even cold. They are diligent and fervent today, but idle and indifferent tomorrow. There are still Galatians among us who seem, one way or another, to be bewitched with error. Even the best of Believers are not always at their best. Who among us has not had cause to make confession that he has not kept up to his first love at all times? Neither has his lamp been always clearly burning, nor has he, himself, been all through the night equally wakeful and watchful for the coming of the Lord.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Go and proclaim, etc. Go, as the Targum renders, אזיל, the imperative form.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
backsliding children (Envasec in O.F.) That you perverted your way because of much good, that you enjoyed tranquility and pleasure, as Scripture states: They hum snatches of song to the tune of the lute (Amos:5), those who drink from bowls of wine (v. 6).
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
20 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַ֚ךְ | ʾakh | only | H389 → | 161 times |
| דְּעִ֣י | dei | recognize | H3045 → | 945 times |
| עֲוֹנֵ֔ךְ | ʾavonekh | iniquity your | H5771 → | 233 times |
| כִּ֛י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בַּיהוָ֥ה | bayahweh | against Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהַ֖יִךְ | ʾelohayikh | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| פָּשָׁ֑עַתְּ | pashaat | you have rebelled | H6586 → | 41 times |
| וַתְּפַזְּרִ֨י | vatefazeri | and you have scattered | H6340 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דְּרָכַ֜יִךְ | derakhayikh | ways your | H1870 → | 707 times |
| לַזָּרִ֗ים | lazarim | to <the> strangers | H2114 → | 77 times |
| תַּ֚חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֵ֣ץ | ʾetz | tree | H6086 → | 328 times |
| רַעֲנָ֔ן | raanan | luxuriant | H7488 → | 20 times |
| וּבְקוֹלִ֥י | uvekoli | and to voice my | H6963 → | 506 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שְׁמַעְתֶּ֖ם | shema'tem | you have listened | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהֹוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
אַ֚ךְonly
ʾakhH389 →161 times
דְּעִ֣יrecognize
deiH3045 →945 times
עֲוֹנֵ֔ךְiniquity your
ʾavonekhH5771 →233 times
כִּ֛יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
בַּיהוָ֥הagainst Yahweh
bayahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהַ֖יִךְGod your
ʾelohayikhH430 →2601 times
פָּשָׁ֑עַתְּyou have rebelled
pashaatH6586 →41 times
וַתְּפַזְּרִ֨יand you have scattered
vatefazeriH6340 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דְּרָכַ֜יִךְways your
derakhayikhH1870 →707 times
לַזָּרִ֗יםto <the> strangers
lazarimH2114 →77 times
תַּ֚חַתunder
tachatH8478 →505 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עֵ֣ץtree
ʾetzH6086 →328 times
רַעֲנָ֔ןluxuriant
raananH7488 →20 times
וּבְקוֹלִ֥יand to voice my
uvekoliH6963 →506 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
שְׁמַעְתֶּ֖םyou have listened
shema'temH8085 →1159 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהֹוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 12:2Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 7:5
Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.
- Numbers 33:51–52
“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
- 2 Kings 16:4
And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
- Deuteronomy 7:5
Through
Jeremiah 3:25Let us lie down in our shame; let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our fathers; from our youth even to this day we have…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 22:21
I warned you when you were secure. You said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your way from youth, that you have not obeyed My voice.
- Proverbs 5:13
I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors.
- Lamentations 5:16
The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!
- Ezekiel 7:18
They will put on sackcloth, and terror will overwhelm them. Shame will cover all their faces, and all their heads will be shaved.
- Jeremiah 22:21
Through
Jeremiah 2:25You should have kept your feet from going bare and your throat from being thirsty. But you said, ‘It is hopeless! For I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:16
They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; they enraged Him with abominations.
- Deuteronomy 32:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1833: “A Proclamation from the King of Kings” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.