Jeremiah 7:3

7:3 The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right. ²  If you do, I will allow you to continue to live in this land. ³ 

Jeremiah 7:1

Faulty Religion and Unethical Behavior Will Lead to Judgment

7:1 The Lord said to Jeremiah: ⁴ 

Jeremiah 1:18

1:18 I, the Lord, ⁵  hereby promise to make you ⁶  as strong as a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall. You will be able to stand up against all who live in ⁷  the land, including the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and all the people of the land.

[7:3]  ¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God Israel.”

[7:3]  ² tn Or “Make good your ways and your actions.” J. Bright’s translation (“Reform the whole pattern of your conduct”; Jeremiah [AB], 52) is excellent.

[7:3]  ³ tn Heb “place” but this might be misunderstood to refer to the temple.

[7:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord.”

[1:18]  ⁷ tn See the note on “Jeremiah” at the beginning of v. 17.

[1:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “today I have made you.” The Hebrew verb form here emphasizes the certainty of a yet future act; the Lord is promising to protect Jeremiah from any future attacks which may result from his faithfully carrying out his commission. See a similar use of the same Hebrew verb tense in v. 9, and see the translator’s note there.

[1:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “I make you a fortified city…against all the land….” The words “as strong as” and “so you will be able to stand against all the people of…” are given to clarify the meaning of the metaphor.