Turn me, and I shall be turned (Jeremiah 31)

In the Book of Jeremiah, God hears Ephraim (a name for His people) grieving and asking Him to “turn me back”. In the next verse God promises him mercy.

Picture: Ary Scheffer, Saint Augustine and Saint Monica, 1854

Plain English

You disciplined me, and I was disciplined,like a calf that was never trained.Turn me back, and I will turn back,for You are the LORD my God.

After I turned back, I repented;after I came to understand, I struck my thigh.I was ashamed and humiliated,because I carried the disgrace of my youth.

Traditional wording, 1611

Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised,as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke:turn Thou me, and I shall be turned;for Thou art the LORD my God.

Surely after that I was turned, I repented;and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh:I was ashamed, yea, even confounded,because I did bear the reproach of my youth.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Hebrew, with the King James Version beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The King James translators, The King James Version, 1611.

The King James “unaccustomed to the yoke” adds the yoke, where the Hebrew says only that the calf was not trained.

When it is said

Anyone can pray Ephraim’s words just as they stand in the Book of Jeremiah.

They fit the moment you want to come back to God and find you cannot make yourself turn.

Where it comes from

Author known

Who is Ephraim?

In this chapter of Jeremiah, Ephraim stands for God’s people. God is a father to Israel, and Ephraim is His firstborn son (Jeremiah 31:9). A few verses later God hears Ephraim grieving, and these are the words He hears (Jeremiah 31:18).

Jeremiah 31:9 and 31:18, King James Version

How does God answer?

God answers in the very next verse. Ephraim is His dear son, whom He still remembers even after speaking against him, and He will surely have mercy on him (Jeremiah 31:20).

Jeremiah 31:20, King James Version

The Scripture in it

I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God. After I returned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

Jeremiah 31:18-19 Quoted The prayer is Ephraim’s words in these two verses.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

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