Jeremiah 15:19
New International Version
Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman. Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them.

New Living Translation
This is how the LORD responds: “If you return to me, I will restore you so you can continue to serve me. If you speak good words rather than worthless ones, you will be my spokesman. You must influence them; do not let them influence you!

English Standard Version
Therefore thus says the LORD: “If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them.

Berean Standard Bible
Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak words that are noble instead of worthless, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must turn to you, but you must not turn to them.

King James Bible
Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.

New King James Version
Therefore thus says the LORD: “If you return, Then I will bring you back; You shall stand before Me; If you take out the precious from the vile, You shall be as My mouth. Let them return to you, But you must not return to them.

New American Standard Bible
Therefore, this is what the LORD says: “If you return, then I will restore you— You will stand before Me; And if you extract the precious from the worthless, You will become My spokesman. They, for their part, may turn to you, But as for you, you are not to turn to them.

NASB 1995
Therefore, thus says the LORD, “If you return, then I will restore you— Before Me you will stand; And if you extract the precious from the worthless, You will become My spokesman. They for their part may turn to you, But as for you, you must not turn to them.

NASB 1977
Therefore, thus says the LORD, “If you return, then I will restore you— Before Me you will stand; And if you extract the precious from the worthless, You will become My spokesman. They for their part may turn to you, But as for you, you must not turn to them.

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore thus says Yahweh, “If you return, then I will cause you to return— Before Me you will stand; And if you extract the precious from the worthless, You will become My mouthpiece. They for their part may turn to you, But as for you, you must not turn to them.

Amplified Bible
Therefore, thus says the LORD [to Jeremiah], “If you repent [and give up this mistaken attitude of despair and self-pity], then I will restore you [to a state of inner peace] So that you may stand before Me [as My obedient representative]; And if you separate the precious from the worthless [examining yourself and cleansing your heart from unwarranted doubt concerning My faithfulness], You will become My spokesman. Let the people turn to you [and learn to value My values]— But you, you must not turn to them [with regard for their idolatry and wickedness].

Christian Standard Bible
Therefore, this is what the LORD says: If you return, I will take you back; you will stand in my presence. And if you speak noble words, rather than worthless ones, you will be my spokesman. It is they who must return to you; you must not return to them.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Therefore, this is what the LORD says: If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak noble words, rather than worthless ones, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must return to you; you must not return to them.

American Standard Version
Therefore thus saith Jehovah, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, that thou mayest stand before me; and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: they shall return unto thee, but thou shalt not return unto them.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Because of this, thus says LORD JEHOVAH: “If you will turn, I will turn you, and before me you shall stand, and if you will bring forth the precious from the contemptible, you will be as my mouth, and those shall be converted to you, and you will not be converted to them

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou wilt return, then will I restore thee, and thou shalt stand before my face: and if thou wilt bring forth the precious from the worthless, thou shalt be as my mouth: and they shall return to thee; but thou shalt not return to them.

Contemporary English Version
Then the LORD told me: Stop talking like a fool! If you turn back to me and speak my message, I will let you be my prophet once again. I hope the people of Judah will accept what you say. But you can ignore their threats, *

Douay-Rheims Bible
Therefore thus saith the Lord: If thou wilt be converted, I will convert thee, and thou shalt stand before my face; and if thou wilt separate the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: they shall be turned to thee, and thou shalt not be turned to them.

English Revised Version
Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, that thou mayest stand before me; and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: they shall return unto thee, but thou shalt not return unto them.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
This is what the LORD says: If you will return, I will take you back. If you will speak what is worthwhile and not what is worthless, you will stand in my presence. The people will return to you, but you will not return to them.

Good News Translation
To this the LORD replied, "If you return, I will take you back, and you will be my servant again. If instead of talking nonsense you proclaim a worthwhile message, you will be my prophet again. The people will come back to you, and you will not need to go to them.

International Standard Version
Therefore, this is what the LORD says: "If you repent, I'll take you back and you will stand before me. If you speak what is worthwhile, instead of what is worthless, then you will be my spokesman. People will turn to you, but you aren't to turn to them.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Therefore thus saith the LORD: If thou return, and I bring thee back, Thou shalt stand before Me; And if thou bring forth the precious out of the vile, Thou shalt be as My mouth; Let them return unto thee, But thou shalt not return unto them.

Literal Standard Version
Therefore, thus said YHWH: “If you turn back, then I bring you back, | You stand before Me, | And if you bring out the precious from the vile, | You are as My mouth! They return to you, | And you do not return to them.

Majority Standard Bible
Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak words that are noble instead of worthless, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must turn to you, but you must not turn to them.

New American Bible
Thus the LORD answered me: If you come back and I take you back, in my presence you shall stand; If you utter what is precious and not what is worthless, you shall be my mouth. Then they will be the ones who turn to you, not you who turn to them.

NET Bible
Because of this, the LORD said, "You must repent of such words and thoughts! If you do, I will restore you to the privilege of serving me. If you say what is worthwhile instead of what is worthless, I will again allow you to be my spokesman. They must become as you have been. You must not become like them.

New Revised Standard Version
Therefore thus says the LORD: If you turn back, I will take you back, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall serve as my mouth. It is they who will turn to you, not you who will turn to them.

New Heart English Bible
Therefore thus says the LORD, "If you return, then will I bring you again, that you may stand before me; and if you take forth the precious from the vile, you shall be as my mouth: they shall return to you, but you shall not return to them.

Webster's Bible Translation
Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou shalt return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou shalt separate the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return to thee; but return not thou to them.

World English Bible
Therefore Yahweh says, “If you return, then I will bring you again, that you may stand before me; and if you take out the precious from the vile, you will be as my mouth. They will return to you, but you will not return to them.

Young's Literal Translation
Therefore, thus said Jehovah: If thou turnest back, then I bring thee back, Before Me thou dost stand, And if thou bringest out the precious from the vile, As My mouth thou art! They -- they turn back unto thee, And thou dost not turn back unto them.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The LORD's Promise
19Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak words that are noble instead of worthless, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must turn to you, but you must not turn to them. 20Then I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to save and deliver you, declares the LORD.…

Cross References
1 Kings 17:1
Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As surely as the LORD lives--the God of Israel before whom I stand--there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!"

Jeremiah 4:1
"If you will return, O Israel, return to Me," declares the LORD. "If you will remove your detestable idols from My sight and no longer waver,

Jeremiah 6:29
The bellows blow fiercely, blasting away the lead with fire. The refining proceeds in vain, for the wicked are not purged.

Jeremiah 15:1
Then the LORD said to me: "Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go.

Jeremiah 35:19
this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Jonadab son of Rechab will never fail to have a man to stand before Me.'"

Lamentations 1:11
All her people groan as they search for bread. They have traded their treasures for food to keep themselves alive. Look, O LORD, and consider, for I have become despised.

Ezekiel 22:26
Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.


Treasury of Scripture

Therefore thus said the LORD, If you return, then will I bring you again, and you shall stand before me: and if you take forth the precious from the vile, you shall be as my mouth: let them return to you; but return not you to them.

return.

Jeremiah 15:10-18
Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me…

Jeremiah 20:9
Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

Exodus 6:29,30
That the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee…

stand.

Jeremiah 15:1
Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.

1 Kings 17:1
And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

Proverbs 22:29
Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

take.

Leviticus 10:10
And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;

Isaiah 32:5,6
The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful…

Ezekiel 22:26
Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

as my.

Exodus 4:12,15,16
Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say…

Luke 10:16
He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.

Luke 12:12
For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

let them.

Jeremiah 38:20,21
But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live…

Ezekiel 2:7
And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.

Ezekiel 3:10,11
Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears…

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Jeremiah 15
1. The utter rejection and manifold judgments of the people.
10. Jeremiah, complaining of their spite, receives a promise for himself;
12. and a threatening for them.
15. He prays;
19. and receives a gracious promise.














(19) Therefore thus saith the Lord . . .--The Divine voice within makes answer to the passionate complaint. The prophet also needs, not less than the people, to "return" to his true mind, to repent of his murmurings and distrust. Upon that condition only can he again "stand before" the Lord in the full sense of that word, and minister to Him as a prophet-priest (comp. 1Kings 17:1; 1Kings 18:15; 2Kings 3:14). He has to distinguish between "the precious and the vile," between the gold and the dross, between a righteous zeal and the despondent bitterness which is its spurious counterfeit, not in the people only to whom he speaks but in himself. Above all he must beware of being tempted by his sense of failure, to return to the people in the temper of one who tunes his voice according to the time. Rather must they "return" to him and rise to his level, both "returning" to Jehovah.

Verse 19. - If thou return, etc. Most commentators regard these words as containing a gentle rebuke to Jeremiah for his doubts respecting God's care of him. It may be questioned, however, whether such passing doubts could be described as a turning away from Jehovah. If the word "return" is to be interpreted in a spiritual sense, we must surely conclude that the people is addressed (comp. Jeremiah 3:12; Jeremiah 4:1). But this does not agree with the context. Hence Gratz's view seems very plausible, that the reference is to the proposal that Jeremiah should place himself under the protection of Gedaliah (comp. Jeremiah 40:5, "Go back also to Gedaliah," etc.). Then will I bring thee again; viz. into the right relation to me, so as to be my minister (Keil). But by altering one of the vowel-points (which form no part of the text), on the authority of the Septuagint, we get a more satisfactory sense, I will give thee a settled place. The verb must in any case be coupled with the following one. Jeremiah longs for a quiet home, only as supplying the conditions of prophetic activity. Thou shalt stand before me. The phrase is taken from the wont of slaves to stand in their masters' presence, waiting for commands. It is also applied to courtiers (Proverbs 22:29) and royal councilors (1 Kings 12:6), to angels (Luke 1:19) and to prophets (1 Kings 17:1; 2 Kings 3:14). Jeremiah was by God's will to find a new and important mission to the Jews with Gedaliah. If thou take forth the precious from the vile, etc. The metaphor is derived from metallurgy (comp. Jeremiah 6:27-30). The prophet is compared to a smelter. By the fervor of his inspired exhortations, he seeks to draw away from the mass of unbelievers all those who are spiritually capable of better things. The "vine-dressers and husbandmen," whom Nebuzar-adan had left after the capture of Jerusalem, though outwardly "the poor of the laud," might yet be ennobled by the word and example of Jeremiah. [Some explain "the precious" and "the vile" differently, taking the former to be the pure Word of God (comp. Psalm 12:6; Proverbs 30:5), the latter the base, human elements which are apt to be mixed with the Divine message (comp. Jeremiah 23:28). But was it not the very fidelity of Jeremiah which exposed him to the persecutions of which he has been complaining? Others suppose an inward purification of Jeremiah himself to be intended, "the vile" being those human infirmities of which he had just given evidence, as opposed to "the precious," i.e. the spiritual impulses which come from above. But is not such an explanation too evangelical, too Pauline, for this context?] Thou shalt be as my mouth. For devoting himself to this possible "mustard seed" of a better and holier people, the prophet should be rewarded

(1) by close prophetic intercourse with his God, and

(2), as the next clause states, by a moral victory over his opponents. "Mouth" for "prophet," as Exodus 4:16 (comp. Exodus 7:1). Let them return unto thee, etc.; rather, they shall return unto thee, but thou shalt not return unto them. They shall come over to thy side, and thou shalt not need to make humiliating advances to them.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Therefore
לָכֵ֞ן (lā·ḵên)
Adverb
Strong's 3651: So -- thus

this is what
כֹּֽה־ (kōh-)
Adverb
Strong's 3541: Like this, thus, here, now

the LORD
יְהוָ֗ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

says:
אָמַ֣ר (’ā·mar)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“If
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

you return,
תָּשׁ֤וּב (tā·šūḇ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

I will restore you;
וַאֲשִֽׁיבְךָ֙ (wa·’ă·šî·ḇə·ḵā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive imperfect - first person common singular | second person masculine singular
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

you will stand
תַּֽעֲמֹ֔ד (ta·‘ă·mōḏ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 5975: To stand, in various relations

in My presence.
לְפָנַ֣י (lə·p̄ā·nay)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine plural construct | first person common singular
Strong's 6440: The face

And if
וְאִם־ (wə·’im-)
Conjunctive waw | Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

you speak
תּוֹצִ֥יא (tō·w·ṣî)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 3318: To go, bring, out, direct and proxim

words that are noble
יָקָ֛ר (yā·qār)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 3368: Precious, rare, splendid, weighty

instead of worthless,
מִזּוֹלֵ֖ל (miz·zō·w·lêl)
Preposition-m | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 2151: To shake, to quake, to be loose morally, worthless, prodigal

you will be
תִֽהְיֶ֑ה (ṯih·yeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

My spokesman.
כְּפִ֣י (kə·p̄î)
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 6310: The mouth, edge, portion, side, according to

It is they
הֵ֙מָּה֙ (hêm·māh)
Pronoun - third person masculine plural
Strong's 1992: They

who must return
יָשֻׁ֤בוּ (yā·šu·ḇū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

to you,
אֵלֶ֔יךָ (’ê·le·ḵā)
Preposition | second person masculine singular
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

but you
וְאַתָּ֖ה (wə·’at·tāh)
Conjunctive waw | Pronoun - second person masculine singular
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

must not
לֹֽא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

return
תָשׁ֥וּב (ṯā·šūḇ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

to them.
אֲלֵיהֶֽם׃ (’ă·lê·hem)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 15:19 Therefore thus says Yahweh If you return (Jer.)
Jeremiah 15:18
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