Jeremiah 3:19

“I thought to myself, ¹  ‘Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son! ²  What a joy it would be for me to give ³  you a pleasant land, the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!’ ⁴  I thought you would call me, ‘Father’ ⁵  and would never cease being loyal to me. ⁶ 

"I myself said, "‘How gladly would I treat you like sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’ I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following me.

"Then I said, ‘How I would set you among My sons And give you a pleasant land, The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’ And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My Father, And not turn away from following Me.’

"I thought to myself, ‘I would love to treat you as my own children!’ I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land––the finest inheritance in the world. I looked forward to your calling me ‘Father,’ and I thought you would never turn away from me again.

"I planned what I'd say if you returned to me: 'Good! I'll bring you back into the family. I'll give you choice land, land that the godless nations would die for.' And I imagined that you would say, 'Dear father!' and would never again go off and leave me.

But I said, How am I to put you among the children, and give you a desired land, a heritage of glory among the armies of the nations? and I said, You are to say to me, My father; and not be turned away from me.

I thought how I would set you among my children, and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful heritage of all the nations. And I thought you would call me, My Father, and would not turn from following me.

"But I said: ‘How can I put you among the children And give you a pleasant land, A beautiful heritage of the hosts of nations?’ "And I said: ‘You shall call Me, "My Father," And not turn away from Me.’

“I thought to myself, ¹  ‘Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son! ²  What a joy it would be for me to give ³  you a pleasant land, the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!’ ⁴  I thought you would call me, ‘Father’ ⁵  and would never cease being loyal to me. ⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “I, myself, said.” See note on “I thought that she might come back to me” in 3:7.

² tn Heb “How I would place you among the sons.” Israel appears to be addressed here contextually as the Lord’s wife (see the next verse). The pronouns of address in the first two lines are second feminine singular as are the readings of the two verbs preferred by the Masoretes (the Qere readings) in the third and fourth lines. The verbs that are written in the text in the third and fourth lines (the Kethib readings) are second masculine plural as is the verb describing Israel’s treachery in the next verse.

sn The imagery here appears to be that of treating the wife as an equal heir with the sons and of giving her the best piece of property.

³ tn The words “What a joy it would be for me to” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied in the parallel structure.

⁴ tn Heb “the most beautiful heritage among the nations.”

⁵ tn Heb “my father.”

⁶ tn Heb “turn back from [following] after me.”