Jeremiah 31:3

A
B
C

The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you."

Jeremiah 31:3 (NKJV)

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness."

Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV)

The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

Jeremiah 31:3 (KJV)

Long ago the Lord said to Israel: "I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself."

Jeremiah 31:3 (NLT)

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you."

Jeremiah 31:3 (ESV)

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness."

Jeremiah 31:3 (NASB)

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

"Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you."

Jeremiah 31:3 (AMP)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you.

Jeremiah 31:3 (AMPC)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

God told them, "I've never quit loving you and never will. Expect love, love, and more love!"

Jeremiah 31:3 (MSG)

Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.

New Covenant Meaning

God's Love Has No Beginning It Could Lose and No End It Is Heading Toward

The Hebrew word for "everlasting" here is olam, which means extending beyond the horizon in both directions, further than the eye can see into the past and into the future. God is not saying He started loving you at some point and will continue for a very long time. He is saying His love has no beginning point from which it could run out and no end point at which it will stop. It is not love that depends on what you do. It is love that exists outside of time, rooted in who God is rather than in what you deserve. That is the love you are standing inside of right now.

He Draws with Lovingkindness, Not with Guilt or Fear

The second half of the verse is just as remarkable as the first: with lovingkindness He has drawn you. The Hebrew word chesed describes the loyal, covenant love of God, the love that keeps showing up even when the relationship is strained, the love that refuses to abandon. And that is the tool God uses to draw people to Himself: not guilt, not fear, not shame, not the threat of punishment. He draws with chesed. This matters enormously because it defines the character of God's approach toward you. He is not trying to frighten you into relationship. He is drawing you with the most stable, faithful, inexhaustible love in the universe.

In the New Covenant, the everlasting love of Jeremiah 31:3 is revealed most fully at the cross. Romans 5:8 says God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. The chesed, the lovingkindness that draws, took the form of a Son laying down His life. John 3:16 says God so loved the world that He gave. The love is not just declared. It is demonstrated. The New Covenant believer is not trying to earn the love of a distant God. They are being drawn, right now, by the lovingkindness of the one who already gave everything to keep them close.

Application for Your Life

Let the Everlasting Love Replace Every Lie About God's Feelings Toward You

Shame tells you that God loves you in spite of yourself and with some reluctance. Jeremiah 31:3 says His love is everlasting, which means it was not contingent on you being anything other than what you are. He loved you before you were lovable. He loves you when you fail. His love is not something you can lose by poor performance. When the enemy whispers that God is disappointed in you or that you have done too much to be fully loved, bring this verse. God says yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. That yes is non-negotiable.

Respond to His Drawing by Coming Close

God draws with lovingkindness. He is not forcing anyone. The drawing is an invitation, a steady, faithful pull toward relationship. The appropriate response is to come close. Not to earn the love but to receive it. Not to perform but to abide. If you have been drifting, distracted, or distant from God lately, Jeremiah 31:3 tells you what is waiting for you when you turn back: the same everlasting love that has always been there, drawing you with the same chesed that never runs out. Come close. The love has not moved.

Prayer Based on This Verse

Father, I receive this word over my life right now: You have loved me with an everlasting love. That means before I was born, before I had done anything right or wrong, before I knew Your name, You loved me. And that love has not changed. I release every thought that says Your love for me is conditional or reluctant. I receive the drawing of Your lovingkindness and I come close. I am not approaching You with guilt about how far I have been. I am coming because Your love has been drawing me all along. Thank You for a love that never ends. I rest in it. In Jesus name. Amen.