Jeremiah 3:5
in Jeremiah 3Will He be angry forever? Will He be indignant to the end?’ This you have spoken, but you keep doing all the evil you can.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Will he retain his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and hast done evil things, and hast had thy way.
KJV
Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.
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This verse in Jeremiah 3
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Rather, “Will he, the young husband,” retain, “keep up His anger forever!” These words should be joined to Jer 3:4. Behold ... - Rather, “Behold, thou hast spoken” thus, but thou hast “done evil things” persistently. The King James Version translates as if Judah’s words and deeds were both evil. Really her words were fair, but her deeds proved them to be false. And here ends the prophecy, most interesting as showing what was the general nature of Jeremiah’s exhortations to his countrymen, during the 14 years of Josiah’s reign.
This site's exposition
If a man divorces his wife
on Jeremiah 3:1-5
The chapter opens on a point of law, the rule of Deuteronomy 24. Israel's case goes past that law, for “you have played the harlot with many lovers”. The people call the LORD “My Father” and their “friend from youth”, while “you keep doing all the evil you can”.
This site's exposition
Will He be angry forever?
The question belongs with the prayer of verse 4 and expects the LORD's anger to end soon, from the Father Judah has called Him. Judah has spoken fair words and kept doing evil. Here the first discourse ends, and verse 6 opens a new one in the days of Josiah.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 4, 5.) Therefore, at least from now on, call me, my Father, you are the leader of my virginity: will you be angry forever, or will you persist until the end? Let the heretics be ashamed who do not want to convert to better things, nor return to their Father and Creator, and let them hear: At least from now on, call me, my Father, you are the leader of my virginity. He himself embraces your soul with his affection, and teaches how one should pray and repent.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
), thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldst, and wouldst have spoken and done worse if thou hadst known how; thy will was to do it, but thou lackedst opportunity." Note, Those are wicked indeed that sin to the utmost of their power, that never refuse to comply with a temptation because they should not, but because they cannot.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
Surely he will not, for he has proclaimed his name gracious and merciful. " Repenting sinners may encourage themselves with this, that, though God chide, he will not always chide, though he be angry, he will not keep his anger to the end, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion, and may thus plead for reconciliation.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Will he reserve his anger for ever?....
The impenitence of Judah, and their persisting in sin, are aggravated from the judgments of God upon Israel, which they should have taken warning by,
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
he--"thou," the second person, had preceded. The change to the third person implies a putting away of God to a greater distance from them; instead of repenting and forsaking their idols, they merely deprecate the continuance of their punishment.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Will he reserve his anger for ever? - Why should not wrath be continued against thee, as thou continuest transgression against the Lord?
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲיִנְטֹ֣ר | hayintor | ¿ will he maintain | H5201 → | |
| לְעוֹלָ֔ם | leolam | for ever | H5769 → | 438 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | or? | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יִשְׁמֹ֖ר | yishmor | will he keep | H8104 → | 468 times |
| לָנֶ֑צַח | lanetzach | to perpetuity | H5331 → | 43 times |
| הִנֵּ֥ה | hineh | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| דִבַּ֛רְתְּ | dibarti | you spoke | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| וַתַּעֲשִׂ֥י | vataasi | and you did | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| הָרָע֖וֹת | haraot | <the> wicked things | H7451 → | 662 times |
| וַתּוּכָֽל׃ פ | vatukhal | and you were able | H3201 → | 194 times |
הֲיִנְטֹ֣ר¿ will he maintain
hayintorH5201 →
לְעוֹלָ֔םfor ever
leolamH5769 →438 times
אִם־or?
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יִשְׁמֹ֖רwill he keep
yishmorH8104 →468 times
לָנֶ֑צַחto perpetuity
lanetzachH5331 →43 times
הִנֵּ֥הhere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
דִבַּ֛רְתְּyou spoke
dibartiH1696 →1141 times
וַתַּעֲשִׂ֥יand you did
vataasiH6213 →2628 times
הָרָע֖וֹת<the> wicked things
haraotH7451 →662 times
וַתּוּכָֽל׃ פand you were able
vatukhalH3201 →194 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
Micah 2:1Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
it leads to
- Psalms 36:4
Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil.
- Isaiah 32:7
The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.
- Psalms 7:14–16
Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood.
- Hosea 7:6–7
For they prepare their heart like an oven while they lie in wait; all night their anger smolders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
- Psalms 36:4
Through
Jeremiah 3:12Go, proclaim this message toward the north: ‘Return, O faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will no longer look on you with anger, for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will not be…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 33:11
Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live.…
- Psalms 86:15
But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.
- Ezekiel 33:11
Through
Isaiah 57:16For I will not accuse you forever, nor will I always be angry; for then the spirit of man would grow weak before Me, with the breath of those I have made.
it leads to
- Micah 7:18
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
- Micah 7:18
Through
Micah 7:3Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
it leads to
- Micah 3:11
Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster…
- Micah 3:11
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.