Verse Lens · Context pointer
Jeremiah 26:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
The prophetic word through Jeremiah states or reports “If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent…” at Jeremiah 26:3 as a specific part of “Jeremiah Repeats the Temple Warning under Jehoiakim.”
Read It With
- Jeremiah 26:1–6
Read Jeremiah 26:3 with 26:1–6. By itself, “If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent…” can be detached from the speaker, addressee, date, imperial horizon, poetic movement, or outcome that gives it force. The complete unit establishes: At a new reign's beginning Jeremiah must speak every word in the temple court, offering a conditional possibility of turning and invoking Shiloh.
Why It Needs Context
Keep the line with Jeremiah 26:1–6. The prophetic word through Jeremiah states or reports “If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent…” at Jeremiah 26:3 as a specific part of “Jeremiah Repeats the Temple Warning under Jehoiakim.” The literary form and this limit govern it: The command not to diminish the message does not make every modern sermon inerrant or authorize threats against worshipers.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Jeremiah 26:1–6 — Jeremiah Repeats the Temple Warning under JehoiakimSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Jeremiah 26:1–6, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Jeremiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2; fixed commit
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Jer.xml, OSIS 26:1–6
Open the fixed Hebrew Jeremiah file ↗