Jeremiah 3:25
in Jeremiah 3Let 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 not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against Jehovah our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day; and we have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God.
KJV
We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.
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This verse in Jeremiah 3
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 25) Let us sleep in our confusion, and let our disgrace cover us: for we have sinned against our God, both we and our fathers, from our youth until this day, and we have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God. Let Israel speak this, who has not listened to his Lord: let every heretic who repents speak this; and yet it is a part of salvation to confess one's own sins and to know them. Say, he says, your iniquities first: that you may be justified (Isaiah 43:26).
This site's exposition
Return, O faithless children, and I will heal your faithlessness
on Jeremiah 3:22-25
The invitation is answered at once: “Here we are. We come to You, for You are the LORD our God”. The people say deception comes from the hills and “the salvation of Israel is in the LORD our God”, naming high places a false hope.
This site's exposition
Let us lie down in our shame
Lying down in shame is the posture of mourners who give up every defence. The confession reaches back to the fathers, the same fathers whose losses verse 24 counted. Chapter 4 opens with the LORD's answer.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
After these things, these who make confession say: "We have lain down in our shame"; and after this they say: "and our dishonor has covered us over." Concerning the veil that lies upon the face of those who do not turn back to the Lord it has often been said by us. Because of this veil, "if Moses is read," the sinner does not understand him; for "a veil lies upon his heart." Because of this veil, if the old covenant is read, the hearer will not understand. Because of this veil the Gospel too is veiled to those who are perishing. We were saying, then, concerning the veil, that the shame is the veil. For insofar as we have "the works of shame," it is clear that we have the veil, according to what is said somewhere in the forty-third Psalm: "and the shame of my face has covered me." I set forth that he who does not have works of shame does not have a veil; such was Paul, saying: "But we all, with unveiled face, behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord." Paul, then, has an unveiled face; for he does not have works of shame. He who is not as Paul has a veiled face. As, then, there "the shame of my face has covered me" is said in the forty-third Psalm, in the same manner it is said here: "our dishonor has covered us over." Insofar as we work works of dishonor, we have a veil lying upon our heart. If we wish to lay aside the veil that is from dishonor, let us arrive at the works of honor and let us understand that saying of the Savior, "that all may honor the Son even as they honor the Father," and let us understand also that which is said by the apostle: "Through the transgression of the law you dishonor God. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Sin has laid us under such rebukes of God's providence, and such reproaches of our own consciences, as surround us and fill us with shame. For we have sinned, and shame came in with sin and still attends upon it. We are sinners by descent; guilt and corruption are entailed upon us: We and our fathers have sinned.
Or, rather, Secondly, These had been sacrificed to their idols, had been separated unto that shame ( Hos. ix. 10 ), and they had devoured them without mercy; they did eat the fat of their sacrifices ( Deut. xxxii. 38 ), even their human sacrifices.
We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us,....
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,
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
We lie down ... - Or, We will lie down: we are ready to throw ourselves upon the ground in bitter humiliation. Covereth - literally, shall cover us. We will hide our face from others.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נִשְׁכְּבָ֣ה | nishkevah | let us lie down | H7901 → | |
| בְּבָשְׁתֵּ֗נוּ | bevashetenu | in shame our | H1322 → | 30 times |
| וּֽתְכַסֵּנוּ֮ | utekhasenu | and let it cover us | H3680 → | 152 times |
| כְּלִמָּתֵנוּ֒ | kelimatenu | disgrace our | H3639 → | 30 times |
| כִּי֩ | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לַיהוָ֨ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֜ינוּ | ʾeloheinu | God our | H430 → | 2601 times |
| חָטָ֗אנוּ | chatanu | we have sinned | H2398 → | 238 times |
| אֲנַ֙חְנוּ֙ | ʾanachnu | we | H587 → | 120 times |
| וַאֲבוֹתֵ֔ינוּ | vaavoteinu | and ancestors our | H1 → | 1212 times |
| מִנְּעוּרֵ֖ינוּ | mineureinu | since youth<s> our | H5271 → | 47 times |
| וְעַד־ | vead- | and until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הַיּ֣וֹם | haiyom | the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַזֶּ֑ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁמַ֔עְנוּ | shama'nu | we have listened | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| בְּק֖וֹל | bekol | to [the] voice of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| יְהֹוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ׃ ס | ʾeloheinu | God our | H430 → | 2601 times |
נִשְׁכְּבָ֣הlet us lie down
nishkevahH7901 →
בְּבָשְׁתֵּ֗נוּin shame our
bevashetenuH1322 →30 times
וּֽתְכַסֵּנוּ֮and let it cover us
utekhasenuH3680 →152 times
כְּלִמָּתֵנוּ֒disgrace our
kelimatenuH3639 →30 times
כִּי֩for
kiH3588 →4482 times
לַיהוָ֨הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֜ינוּGod our
ʾeloheinuH430 →2601 times
חָטָ֗אנוּwe have sinned
chatanuH2398 →238 times
אֲנַ֙חְנוּ֙we
ʾanachnuH587 →120 times
וַאֲבוֹתֵ֔ינוּand ancestors our
vaavoteinuH1 →1212 times
מִנְּעוּרֵ֖ינוּsince youth<s> our
mineureinuH5271 →47 times
וְעַד־and until
vead-H5704 →1261 times
הַיּ֣וֹםthe day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַזֶּ֑ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
שָׁמַ֔עְנוּwe have listened
shama'nuH8085 →1159 times
בְּק֖וֹלto [the] voice of
bekolH6963 →506 times
יְהֹוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ׃ סGod our
ʾeloheinuH430 →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
Jeremiah 22:21I 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.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 32:30
For the children of Israel and of Judah have done nothing but evil in My sight from their youth; indeed, they have done nothing but provoke Me to anger by the work of their…
- Jeremiah 7:22–28
For when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, I did not merely command them about burnt offerings and sacrifices,
- Proverbs 30:9
Otherwise, I may have too much and deny You, saying, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, profaning the name of my God.
- Isaiah 48:8
You have never heard; you have never understood; for a long time your ears have not been open. For I knew how deceitful you are; you have been called a rebel from birth.
- Ezekiel 23:3–39
and they played in Egypt, prostituting themselves from their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their virgin bosoms caressed.
- Jeremiah 32:30
Through
Lamentations 5:16The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!
it leads to
- Psalms 89:39
You have renounced the covenant with Your servant and sullied his crown in the dust.
- Isaiah 3:9–11
The expression on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves.
- Psalms 89:39
Through
Ezekiel 7:18They will put on sackcloth, and terror will overwhelm them. Shame will cover all their faces, and all their heads will be shaved.
it leads to
- Isaiah 15:2–3
Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off.
- Isaiah 15:2–3
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); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 5.