Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, ‘Return, you backsliding Israel,’ says Yahweh; ‘I will not look in anger on you; for I am merciful,’ says Yahweh. ‘I will not keep anger forever.
World English Bible
This verse is examined in more than one Scripture Analysis section. Each lens is shown on its own terms, in the section's own words; GEBible reaches no verdict of its own.
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Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, ‘Return, you backsliding Israel,’ says Yahweh; ‘I will not look in anger on you; for I am merciful,’ says Yahweh. ‘I will not keep anger forever.
World English Bible
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Dozens of texts describe YHWH as merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loyalty — Exodus 34:6, Deut 4:31, the Psalms, the prophets, the New Testament letters. SAB cites Exodus 34:6-7 for the opposite claim, since the full formula in 34:7 adds that God visits the iniquity of fathers upon children to the third and fourth generation.
Critical scholarship: Genuinely disputed among scholars.
Theology
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
The Bible gives at least four mutually incompatible answers about the duration of God's anger. Judith 8:15 says God doesn't get angry at all.
Critical scholarship: Widely regarded as a genuine contradiction.
Theology
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Each section sets the viewpoints side by side; you weigh the evidence. Here, "critical scholarship" means academic study, not a value judgment. How this is built →
Within each section, grouped by shared field or question type — not a cross-section comparison.
This citation refers to this GEBible page — the verse and the analysis gathered here. To cite the underlying scholarship, cite those sources directly.
"Jeremiah 3:12 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/jeremiah/3/12?version=WEB (retrieved 27 August 2026).