Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.
Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee - the singular, "my," is used distributively, each one so addressing God. They, in them hour of need, plead their knowledge of God as the covenant-people, while in their acts they knew Him not (cf. Matthew 7:21-22; Titus 1:16; also Isaiah 29:13, "This people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me;" Jeremiah 7:4). The Hebrew joins "Israel," not as the English version, with "shall cry," but 'We, Israel, know thee:' God denies the claim thus urged on the ground of their descent from Israel.