If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.
Ver. 1. If thou wilt return, O Israel.] As thou seemest willing to do, and for very good reason. Jer 2:22-24 Thou art but a beaten rebel, and to stand it out with me is to no purpose; thou must either turn or burn. Neither will it help thee to return fainly, for I love truth in the inward parts, and hate hypocrisy, halting, and tepidity. If therefore thou wilt return,
Return unto me.] Return as far as to me; not from one evil course to another, Jer 2:36 for that is but to be tossed as a ball from one of the devil's hands to the other, but "to me with thy whole heart," seriously, sincerely, and zealously; for Non amat, qui non zelat. To a tyrant thou shalt not turn, but to one that will both assist thee, Pro 1:23 and accept thee. Zec 1:2
And if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight,] i.e., Thine idols out of thine house and out of thine heart. Eze 14:3-4
Then shalt thou not remove.] But still dwell in the land and do good; feeding on faith, as Tremellius rendereth that Psalms 37:3 .