Jeremiah 3:21
in Jeremiah 3A voice is heard on the barren heights, the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy, because they have perverted their ways and forgotten the LORD their God.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
A voice is heard upon the bare heights, the weeping and the supplications of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Jehovah their God.
KJV
A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God.
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This verse in Jeremiah 3
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verses 21, 22.) A voice was heard in the streets (or on the lips), the weeping and wailing of the children of Israel, for they have done wickedness, they have forgotten the Lord their God. Return, O returning children, and I will heal your turnings (or contritions): for which Symmachus translated as conversions. God willingly receives the penitent, and runs to meet the son who is wasted with want and filth, and immediately clothes him with the former garments, and restores glory to the one who returns: but only if he returns with weeping and wailing.
This site's exposition
How I long to make you My sons
on Jeremiah 3:19-21
The LORD longs to give Israel “a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of all the nations”. Instead, “as a woman may betray her husband, so you have betrayed Me, O house of Israel”. A voice rises “on the barren heights, the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy”.
This site's exposition
A voice is heard on the barren heights
The barren heights of verse 2, where the shrines stood, now carry the sound of weeping. The same hills that saw the sin hear the prayer for mercy. Perverted means made crooked, a road bent out of line.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Sin is the perverting of our way, it is turning aside to crooked ways and perverting that which is right. Forgetting the Lord our God is at the bottom of all sin.
), and humbled for that, then they are prepared and then they are invited to return, as Christ invites those to him that are weary and heavy-laden. The promise to those that return is, " I will heal your backslidings;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
A voice was heard upon the high places,....
The charge runs very high here. They had multiplied their idols and their idolatries. To have admitted one strange God among them would have been bad enough, but they were insatiable in their lustings after false worships: Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Upon the high places - Upon those bare table-lands, which previously had been the scene of Israel’s idolatries Jer 3:2. The prophet supposes the offer of mercy to Israel if repentant to have been accepted, and describes Israel’s agony of grief now that she is convinced of her sins. Weeping and supplications - literally, “the weeping of earliest prayers for mercy.” For they have ... - Rather, because “they hare perverted their way,” literally, made it crooked. It gives the reason of their cry for mercy.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
In harmony with the preceding promises of God, the penitential confessions of Israel are heard. high places--The scene of their idolatries is the scene of their confessions. Compare Jer 3:23, in which they cast aside their trust in these idolatrous high places. The publicity of their penitence is also implied (compare Jer 7:29;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A voice was heard upon the high places - Here the Israelites are represented as assembled together to bewail their idolatry and to implore mercy. While thus engaged, they hear the gracious call of Jehovah: -
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ק֚וֹל | kol | a sound | H6963 → | 506 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שְׁפָיִ֣ים | shefayim | bare heights | H8205 → | 9 times |
| נִשְׁמָ֔ע | nishma' | [is] heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| בְּכִ֥י | bekhi | [the] weeping of | H1065 → | 30 times |
| תַחֲנוּנֵ֖י | tachanunei | [the] supplications of | H8469 → | |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הֶעֱוּוּ֙ | heevu | they have perverted | H5753 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דַּרְכָּ֔ם | darkam | way their | H1870 → | 707 times |
| שָׁכְח֖וּ | shakhechu | they have forgotten | H7911 → | 102 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהֹוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם׃ | ʾeloheihem | God their | H430 → | 2601 times |
ק֚וֹלa sound
kolH6963 →506 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
שְׁפָיִ֣יםbare heights
shefayimH8205 →9 times
נִשְׁמָ֔ע[is] heard
nishma'H8085 →1159 times
בְּכִ֥י[the] weeping of
bekhiH1065 →30 times
תַחֲנוּנֵ֖י[the] supplications of
tachanuneiH8469 →
בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
הֶעֱוּוּ֙they have perverted
heevuH5753 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דַּרְכָּ֔םway their
darkamH1870 →707 times
שָׁכְח֖וּthey have forgotten
shakhechuH7911 →102 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהֹוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם׃God their
ʾeloheihemH430 →2601 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
2 Corinthians 7:10Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
it leads to
- Acts 3:19
Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,
- Acts 11:18
When they heard this, their objections were put to rest, and they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”
- 2 Timothy 2:25–26
He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.
- 2 Samuel 12:13
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” “The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die.
- Luke 18:13
But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’
- Acts 3:19
Through
Jeremiah 2:32Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.
it leads to
- Psalms 106:21
They forgot God their Savior, who did great things in Egypt,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 106:21
Through
Jeremiah 31:9They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 3:4
Have you not just called to Me, ‘My Father, You are my friend from youth.
- Exodus 4:22
Then tell Pharaoh that this is what the LORD says: ‘Israel is My firstborn son,
- Jeremiah 3:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.