Jeremiah 7:3
in Jeremiah 7Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Correct your ways and deeds, and I will let you live in this place.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
KJV
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
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This verse in Jeremiah 7
Commentary
7 notes on this verse(Verse 3.) Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Make (or direct) your ways and your pursuits (or inventions) good, and I will dwell with you in this place (or make you dwell in this place). The most merciful physician desires to heal all those wounded with medicine. For when he says, 'Make (or correct) your ways good,' he shows that they are perverse and have no good in themselves. And because it is natural for each person to love their homeland alone and have nothing sweeter, rewards are promised to the obedient.
This site's exposition
the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD
on Jeremiah 7:1-3
Jeremiah is told to “Stand in the gate of the house of the LORD” and preach to the worshippers. So the temple court becomes a courtroom on the way to sacrifice. The message is conditional, “Correct your ways and deeds, and I will let you live in this place”.
This site's exposition
Correct your ways and deeds
Jerome compares the LORD here to a physician who names the wound so that he can heal it. The command to correct assumes the ways are crooked, and Matthew Henry notes that it also shows the people where and how to mend. Mercy speaks first.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
And thus did He send prophets prior to the transmigration to Babylon, and after that event others again in greater number than the former, to seek the fruits, saying thus to them (the Jews): "Thus saith the Lord, Cleanse your ways and your doings, execute just judgment, and look each one with pity and compassion on his brother: oppress not the widow nor the orphan, the proselyte nor the poor, and let none of you treasure up evil against his brother in your hearts, and love not false swearing.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But it is a great instance of the favour of God to them that he gives them liberty to amend, shows them where and how they must amend, and promises to accept them upon their amendment: " I will cause you to dwell quietly and peaceably in this place, and a stop shall be put to that which threatens your expulsion." Reformation is the only way, and a sure way to ruin.
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
If the people repented, instead of being led into captivity, God would maintain their national existence. It is a promise of the continuance of an old blessing.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּֽה־ | koh- | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֞ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֤ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָאוֹת֙ | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֣י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| הֵיטִ֥יבוּ | heitivu | make good | H3190 → | 117 times |
| דַרְכֵיכֶ֖ם | darkheikhem | ways your | H1870 → | 707 times |
| וּמַֽעַלְלֵיכֶ֑ם | umaaleikhem | and deeds your | H4611 → | 41 times |
| וַאֲשַׁכְּנָ֣ה | vaashakenah | so let me cause to dwell | H7931 → | 129 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֔ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בַּמָּק֥וֹם | bamakom | in the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| הַזֶּֽה׃ | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
כֹּֽה־thus
koh-H3541 →577 times
אָמַ֞רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֤הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָאוֹת֙of hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
אֱלֹהֵ֣י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
הֵיטִ֥יבוּmake good
heitivuH3190 →117 times
דַרְכֵיכֶ֖םways your
darkheikhemH1870 →707 times
וּמַֽעַלְלֵיכֶ֑םand deeds your
umaaleikhemH4611 →41 times
וַאֲשַׁכְּנָ֣הso let me cause to dwell
vaashakenahH7931 →129 times
אֶתְכֶ֔ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
בַּמָּק֥וֹםin the place
bamakomH4725 →401 times
הַזֶּֽה׃<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 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
Isaiah 55:7Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely…
it leads to
- Proverbs 28:13
He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
- James 4:8–10
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- Ezekiel 18:21–23
But if the wicked man turns from all the sins he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.
- Luke 15:10
In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”
- Isaiah 44:22
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
- Proverbs 28:13
Through
Proverbs 28:13He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
it leads to
- 1 John 1:8–10
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- Psalms 32:3–5
When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.
- Job 31:33
if I have covered my transgressions like Adam by hiding my guilt in my heart,
- 1 John 1:8–10
Where this verse is studied
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; Irenaeus, AGAINST HERESIES 4:36.2; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
