Jeremiah 3:25 · Bible study
Jeremiah 3:25 Commentary: Confession and Shame in Repentance
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Jeremiah 3:25 captures the people's corporate confession of sin, lying in shame and acknowledging disobedience from youth to this day.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The people confess their sin and accept disgrace as deserved, lying down in shame.
- Key words: H7901 shakhav (lie down), H3639 kelimmah (disgrace), H2398 chata (sin), H8085 shama (obey).
- Main debate: Whether the verbs are present tense (describing current state) or future (a resolve to lie down in shame), both readings convey deep contrition.
- Theological theme: Corporate repentance that spans generations, with no excuse or deflection.
- Best use: A model for honest confession in communal prayer and as a background to the New Testament call to repent.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Let us lie down in our shame; let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our fathers; from our youth even to this day we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.”
WEB World English Bible 2000
Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against Yahweh our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. We have not obeyed Yahweh our God’s voice.”
KJV King James Version 1769
We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against Jehovah our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day; and we have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
We have lain down in our shame, and cover us doth our confusion, For against Jehovah our God we have sinned, We, and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, Nor have we hearkened to the voice of Jehovah our God!
Darby Darby Bible 1890
We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us; for we have sinned against Jehovah our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah our God.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
We shall sleep in our confusion, and our shame shall cover us, because we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers from our youth even to this day, and we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Yacemos en nuestra confusión, y nuestra afrenta nos cubre: porque pecamos contra Jehová nuestro Dios, nosotros y nuestros padres, desde nuestra juventud y hasta este día; y no hemos escuchado la voz de Jehová nuestro Dios.
Jazemos em nossa vergonha, e nossa humilhação nos cobre; porque pecamos contra o SENHOR nosso Deus, nós e nossos pais, desde nossa juventude até hoje; e não obedecemos a voz do SENHOR nosso Deus.
Nous avons notre honte pour couche,
Denn worauf wir uns verließen, das ist uns jetzt eitel Schande, und wessen wir uns trösteten, des müssen wir uns jetzt schämen. Denn wir sündigten damit wider den HERRN, unsern Gott, beide, wir und unsre Väter, von unsrer Jugend auf, auch bis auf diesen heutigen Tag, und gehorchten nicht der Stimme des HERRN, unsers Gottes.
Wij liggen in onze schaamte, en onze schande overdekt ons, want wij hebben tegen den HEERE, onzen God, gezondigd, wij en onze vaderen, van onze jeugd aan tot op dezen dag; en wij zijn der stem des HEEREN, onzes Gods, niet gehoorzaam geweest.
Giaciamoci nella nostra vergogna e ci copra la nostra ignominia! poiché abbiam peccato contro l’Eterno, il nostro Dio: noi e i nostri padri, dalla nostra fanciullezza fino a questo giorno; e non abbiam dato ascolto alla voce dell’Eterno, ch’è il nostro Dio”.
Leżymy w pohańbieniu swem, a przykrywa nas zelżywość nasza; albowiemśmy przeciwko Panu, Bogu naszemu, zgrzeszyli, my i ojcowie nasi, od młodości naszej aż do dnia tego, a nie usłuchaliśmu głosu Pana, Boga naszego.
Мы лежим в стыде своем, и срам наш покрывает нас, потому что мы грешили пред Господом Богом нашим, - мы и отцы наши, от юности нашей и до сего дня, и не слушались голоса Господа Бога нашего.
我們在羞恥中 躺臥吧！願慚愧 將我們遮蓋；因為從立國（原文是幼年）以來，我們 和我們的列祖 常常得罪 耶和華─我們的 神，沒有 聽從 耶和華─我們 神 的話。
Let us be stretched on the earth in our downfall, covering ourselves with our shame: for we have been sinners against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our earliest years even till this day: and we have not given ear to the voice of the Lord our God.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Jeremiah 3:25
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree this verse portrays genuine corporate repentance. Barnes describes a readiness to throw oneself on the ground in bitter humiliation. Calvin notes the people confess they were lying in their miseries, deserving every affliction. Cambridge calls it a vividly drawn picture of Judah’s repentance. Gill expands: they are so overwhelmed with a sense of sin that they can neither stand up nor look up. Matthew Henry sees them humbling themselves before God, lamenting both their calamities and the sins that caused them. All emphasize the depth of contrition: this is not mere regret but a complete surrender to shame, acknowledging that disgrace is the proper response to rebellion against Yahweh.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Present-state reading: The verbs describe the people’s current experience of shame as they confess (WEB, BSB, Cambridge).
- Future commitment reading: The verbs express a resolve to accept the shame they deserve (Barnes: 'We will lie down').
- Prophetic foreshadowing (Gill): The confession looks forward to Jewish repentance at the end of the age, applying 'our youth' to the time of Christ.
What is clear: The verse is a corporate confession of sin that acknowledges disgrace as the proper consequence of rebellion against Yahweh, and it marks the beginning of genuine, humble return to God.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Tense of the verbs | The verse describes a posture of deep shame and contrition before God. | Some translations render them as present (WEB, BSB) describing the current state; others as future (Barnes, Geneva) or past (Calvin based on Septuagint). The Hebrew verb form can carry present force, but the nuance does not change the fundamental meaning of humility. |
| Specific referent of 'shame' and 'disgrace' | These terms refer to the inner experience of guilt and the outward consequences of sin (e.g., being consumed by idolatry as in v.24). | Gill sees this as the shame of Jewish rejection of Christ, while older commentators like Calvin apply it directly to the Babylonian exile. The verse is broad enough to cover both historical judgment and ultimate repentance. |
| Whether the confession is truly from the whole nation | It describes an ideal or representative response of the penitent remnant. | Protestant traditions (Matthew Henry, Calvin) emphasize that only a remnant truly repented; Catholic and Orthodox readings often see this as the Church speaking in the voice of Israel, incorporating all believers into the confession. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Jeremiah 3:25 sits within a larger passage (3:21, 25) where Israel responds to God’s call to return. The setting is the reign of Josiah (around 620 BC), a time of religious reformation. The people’s confession takes place on the “bare heights” (v.21), the very hilltop shrines where they had practiced idolatry for generations. Their words acknowledge that the “shameful thing” (likely a reference to the god Baal) has devoured all their labor (v.24). Now they use the same word for shame to describe their inner state. The phrase “from our youth even to this day” spans centuries of unfaithfulness, going back to the wilderness generation. This corporate confession unites the present generation with their ancestors, echoing the pattern of Ezra 9 and Nehemiah 9, where leaders lead the people in acknowledging national sin. The posture of lying down and covering themselves is a vivid cultural expression of total inability: one cannot even raise one’s face toward heaven. It is the opposite of the pride that had characterized Israel’s idols.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note a textual nuance in the verb tense. The Hebrew uses cohortative forms (let us lie down) that can also be read as presents or futures. Calvin observes that the original future in Hebrew is often taken as present, and the Targum renders it in the present tense. The Septuagint and Vulgate differ on the tense. No major textual variants affect the meaning: all witnesses agree on the fundamental content of the confession.
Reception History
This verse has been used in Christian liturgy as a model for corporate confession, particularly in traditions that include a prayer of general confession. Reformation commentators like Calvin and Matthew Henry saw it as the proper response to God’s call to return. In Jewish tradition, it is read as part of the penitential prayers (selichot) before the High Holy Days. The verse’s emphasis on generational sin has also been taken up in discussions of social sin and inherited guilt, though Christians vary on how that connects to personal responsibility.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Genuine repentance begins with acknowledging that we deserve shame, not excuses.
- True confession includes the sins of our community and heritage, not just our own.
- Lying down in shame is the doorway to being lifted up by God’s mercy (cf. v.22).
Five-point outline
- The posture: lying down, not standing or looking up, total helplessness.
- The covering: shame and disgrace, not self-justification.
- The confession: we have sinned against Yahweh our God, specific and personal.
- The heritage: we and our fathers, a chain of rebellion broken by confession.
- The duration: from youth to this day, no cutoff, no pretending the past is past.
Illustration hooks
- A person finally admitting they were wrong in a long-standing family feud, using “we” instead of “they” for the first time.
- A community after a public scandal, refusing to deflect blame and instead saying, “We failed.”
- The physical act of bowing or kneeling in prayer, how the body mirrors the soul’s surrender.
Questions your congregation is asking
- How do I confess sins that feel generational, habits or patterns I didn’t start but keep repeating?
- Is it enough to say “I’m sorry,” or do I also need to name the shame and stay with it?
- What comes after lying down in shame, how do we get back up?
Leading a Discussion
This verse gives words to what corporate repentance sounds and feels like. It does not rush to relief but sits in the shame that sin produces. As you discuss, notice the plural pronouns: we, us, our. This is a community owning its failure together, across generations.
Discussion questions
- Read Jeremiah 3:21, 25. What do you notice about the progression from weeping to confession?
- Why does the confession begin with lying down and being covered? What does that tell us about their emotional state?
- How does including “we and our fathers” change the way you think about sin you didn’t personally commit?
- What makes a confession “genuine” rather than empty? Look at the details in verse 25 for clues.
- How does this Old Testament confession connect to the way Christians confess sin today, individually and in worship?
- What might it look like for your small group to “lie down in shame” over a shared failure or oversight?
- How does this verse prepare the way for God’s promise of healing in verse 22?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Deuteronomy 31:17 | Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come on them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Haven’t these evils come on us because our God is not among us?’ |
| Deuteronomy 31:18 | I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods. |
| Judges 2:2 | You shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You shall break down their altars.’ But you have not listened to my voice. Why have you done this? |
| Ezra 9:6 | and I said, “My God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have increased over our head, and our guiltiness has grown up to the heavens. |
| Ezra 9:7 | Since the days of our fathers we have been exceedingly guilty to this day; and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. |
| Ezra 9:15 | Yahweh, the God of Israel, you are righteous; for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guiltiness; for no one can stand before you because of this.” |
| Nehemiah 9:32 | Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness, don’t let all the travail seem little before you that has come on us, on our kings, on our princes, on our priests, on our prophets, on our fathers, and on all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day. |
| Nehemiah 9:34 | Also our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law, nor listened to your commandments and your testimonies with which you testified against them. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
8 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes reads "We lie down" as an act of purposeful humiliation, not rest. The people throw themselves on the ground in bitter shame, and "covereth" means they hide their faces from others. For him, this is a public, voluntary posture of complete self-abasement.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin stresses the Israelites are not accusing God of cruelty but confessing their own sin. They lie in shame because they have sinned against God, and they acknowledge that their suffering is self-inflicted and deserved. They take responsibility for their wickedness and that of their fathers.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentator highlights that Judah's repentance begins at the very high places where they committed idolatry, with weeping that is initially wordless. Only after God's gracious invitation do they find the courage to speak words of deep shame. Their physical postures of lying down and covering themselves reflect the intensity of their painful emotions.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva notes highlight the people's full confession: they admit their shame is deserved, covering them because they and their fathers have sinned from youth until now. This is not a single failure but a long, unbroken history of disobedience against the Lord.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill reads this as the confession of the Jewish people, overwhelmed with shame for a long history of sin against God. He specifies that their guilt includes despising the Gospel, rejecting the Messiah, and disobeying the voice of God—which he identifies with Christ the essential Word.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange insists that "return to me" in verse 1 must be read as a command, not a question. The whole discourse is a call to return, and God's authoritative decree overrides the legal barrier in Deuteronomy. Israel's false presumption of pseudo-repentance under Josiah is also removed.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry highlights that Israel’s sin is not just disobedience but betrayal of a marriage-covenant with God, who had been entirely faithful to them. He calls it treacherous dealing, worse than unfaithfulness to any human partner. The people’s weeping and confession prove they now recognize their spiritual adultery and God’s right to charge them.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley sees the phrase "lie down" as a vivid sign of overwhelming repentance and sorrow. It pictures a person so perplexed and helpless that he throws himself onto his bed, not for rest but as a physical expression of deep distress.