Jeremiah 3:21 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.
Jeremiah 3:21 nkjv
A voice was heard on the desolate heights, Weeping and supplications of the children of Israel. For they have perverted their way; They have forgotten the LORD their God.
Jeremiah 3:21 niv
A cry is heard on the barren heights, the weeping and pleading of the people of Israel, because they have perverted their ways and have forgotten the LORD their God.
Jeremiah 3:21 esv
A voice on the bare heights is heard, the weeping and pleading of Israel's sons because they have perverted their way; they have forgotten the LORD their God.
Jeremiah 3:21 nlt
Voices are heard high on the windswept mountains,
the weeping and pleading of Israel's people.
For they have chosen crooked paths
and have forgotten the LORD their God.
Jeremiah 3 21 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Jer 3:21 | "Hear the voice of Israel's daughters weeping for themselves; for they have played the harlot against the Lord." | Core verse: Lamentation over sin and spiritual adultery. |
| Jer 2:27 | "They say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You have given birth to me.’ For they have turned their backs to me and not their faces; but in the time of their trouble they will say, 'Arise and save us.'" | Echoes turning away from God to idols and calling for salvation in distress. |
| Jer 4:1 | "If you will return, O Israel, says the Lord, return to me; if you will put away your detested things from my presence, then you shall not wander." | Parallel call to return and forsake idolatry for restoration. |
| Jer 5:3 | "O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return." | Highlights the hardness of heart and refusal to repent even when punished. |
| Jer 7:29 | "Cut off your hair, cast it away; and raise a lamentation on the bare heights, for the Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath." | A call to mourn and lament due to God's rejection, linking it to sin. |
| Jer 9:1 | "Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of my people!" | Prophet's deep sorrow and weeping for the nation's sin and its consequences. |
| Jer 15:10 | "Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land! I have not lent a loan, nor have I borrowed a loan, yet everyone curses me." | Prophet's expression of grief over the perversity of his people. |
| Jer 17:13 | "O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you will be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the fountain of living water." | Links forsaking God to shame and being written in the earth, symbolizing oblivion. |
| Jer 18:15 | "But my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to what is not God, to wandering demons they have sacrificed, causing them to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to make a way of their own, a city not built up." | Emphasizes forgetting God and sacrificing to demons as the root of their stumbling. |
| Jer 23:12 | "Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy and call out on Baial, and in my name call for blessing upon Israel. Let them fall!" | Judgment against false prophets who led Israel astray. |
| Jer 25:31 | "The clamor will reach to the ends of the earth, for the Lord has an indictment against the nations; he is entering into judgment with all flesh, and the wicked he will put to the sword, declares the Lord." | God's judgment against all nations for their wickedness. |
| Jer 30:10 | "‘Fear not, O Jacob my servant, nor be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from far away, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease, and none shall make him afraid." | Promise of future salvation and restoration after judgment. |
| Jer 31:22 | "For the Lord has created a new thing on earth: a woman shall surround a man." | New covenant, possibility of new beginnings. |
| Jer 44:17 | "But rather we will carry out every word that has gone out of our own mouths, by burning incense to the queen of heaven and by pouring out drink offerings to her, as we did, our fathers, our kings, and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and fared well, and saw no disaster." | The people's stubborn refusal to abandon idolatry, blaming their misfortunes on ceasing their worship. |
| Jer 50:4 | "In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall weep as they come, and they shall seek the Lord their God." | Prophecy of future national repentance and seeking God. |
| Jer 51:5 | "For Israel has not been forsaken, nor Judah, by his God, the Lord of hosts, though their land was filled with guilt before the Holy One of Israel." | Affirms that despite their guilt, they are not permanently forsaken by God. |
| Lam 1:2 | "She weeps bitterly in the night, with her tears on her cheeks; she has no one to comfort her from all her lovers; all her friends have been treacherous to her; they have become her enemies." | Parallel imagery of Zion weeping, abandoned by her "lovers" (allies and idols). |
| Lam 3:40 | "Let us test and examine our ways, and turn back to the Lord;" | A call for introspection and returning to God. |
| Hos 1:2 | "When the Lord spoke first by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, 'Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by departing from the Lord.'" | Hosea's marriage used as a metaphor for Israel's spiritual adultery with God. |
| Hos 2:13 | "And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals, when she burned incense to them and adorned herself with her earrings and her jewelry, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, declares the Lord." | Specific punishment for participating in idolatrous feasts and forgetting God. |
| Zeph 3:1 | "Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the dominating city!" | Judgment pronounced upon a defiant and impure city. |
| Matt 1:21 | "She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." | Jesus' mission to save from sins, providing a solution to the sin described in Jeremiah. |
| John 6:44 | "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day." | God's drawing individuals to Himself, which leads to repentance and salvation. |
Jeremiah 3 verses
Jeremiah 3 21 Meaning
The voice of Israel's daughters was heard crying for mercy because they had sinned against the Lord their God. This verse describes the emotional and spiritual condition of the people during a time of national calamity. Their weeping signifies repentance and an acknowledgment of their guilt before God. It's a plea for divine intervention and forgiveness, recognizing that their suffering stems from their own transgressions.
Jeremiah 3 21 Context
Jeremiah 3:21 occurs within a broader section of Jeremiah's prophecy where he laments Israel's persistent unfaithfulness and the resultant judgment. Chapter 3 specifically uses the metaphor of marital infidelity to describe Israel's spiritual adultery with foreign gods and their departure from the Lord. The people, despite experiencing God's blessings and covenant relationship, have turned to idols and pagan practices, leading to consequences like scattering and national distress. This verse captures a moment of national crisis, where the people's cry arises from their suffering, indicating a potential, albeit weak, stir of repentance. It's a pivotal moment reflecting on their culpability before divine discipline.
Jeremiah 3 21 Word Analysis
- Hear (שׁמע - shamē'a): Primarily means to hear, but carries connotations of listening, obeying, and understanding. It implies a call for God to attend to their lamentations and for the people to acknowledge their plight.
- the voice (קוֹל - qōl): Sound, voice, utterance. Here it signifies the collective cry or lament of the people.
- of Israel's daughters (בְּנוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל - benōṯ yiśrā'ēl): Daughters of Israel. This is a poetic and specific reference, often referring to the entire nation or the female population who would lament their condition. It highlights their suffering and their direct involvement in the covenant community.
- weeping (בָּכֹה - bāḵōh): To weep, cry, mourn. This verb conveys deep sorrow, grief, and a sense of loss, often associated with repentance and acknowledgment of sin.
- for themselves (לָהֶן - lāhēn): For themselves. Their weeping is not just out of obligation, but from personal distress and the recognition of their own accountability for the situation.
- for they have played the harlot (כִּי מְנָאוּ - kî menā'ū): For they have committed harlotry/adultery. This refers to spiritual unfaithfulness and betrayal of their covenant relationship with God, equating their idolatry to marital infidelity. The root is m-n-h (מנה) meaning to withdraw, deny, or be barren. However, in this context, it strongly suggests me'uwaw (מְאָוָוה) from 'awah ('h') meaning lust, desire, or the active pursuit of forbidden desires. It’s a deliberate turning away to other "lovers" (idols).
- against the Lord (אֶל־יְהוָה - 'el-Yhwh): Towards Yahweh/the Lord. This phrase emphasizes that their acts of unfaithfulness were directed against their covenant God, highlighting the covenantal context of their sin.
Jeremiah 3 21 Bonus Section
The use of "daughters of Israel" is significant. While prophets often spoke of the whole nation as unfaithful (e.g., Hosea comparing Israel to an unfaithful wife), the specific mention of "daughters" can highlight the social and religious fabric of the nation, where women played roles in both worship and everyday life. Their weeping would have resonated as a direct expression of distress that would affect families and communities. Furthermore, this verse echoes the themes of Hosea, where the prophet's own marriage was a prophetic sign of God’s relationship with an adulterous Israel. The “harlotry” here is not just sexual promiscuity but a metaphor for disloyalty to God. It paints a vivid picture of a nation that had prostituted itself to false gods, betraying its sacred calling as God's chosen people.
Jeremiah 3 21 Commentary
This verse is a powerful indictment against Israel's spiritual promiscuity. Their "playing the harlot" refers to their egregious idolatry and the syncretism of their worship, where they blended the worship of Yahweh with pagan deities and practices. The "daughters of Israel" weeping signifies the pervasive nature of their sin and the collective sorrow resulting from their broken relationship with God. It's not merely a superficial crying; it's an admission of guilt stemming from their pursuit of forbidden affections, a departure from their sacred covenantal marriage with the Lord. This act of weeping, however, is seen in the broader context as a response to judgment and national disaster, a cry for deliverance born out of suffering rather than immediate, pure contrition. Jeremiah often presents these lamentations as part of a cycle, calling for genuine repentance for lasting restoration. The people lament the consequences of their sin, recognizing that their current troubles are the result of turning their backs on Yahweh for the fleeting gratification of idols.