1‘Suppose a man divorces his wife. What if she then marries another man? Should her first husband return to her again? If he does, won’t the land become completely “unclean”? People of Israel, you have lived like a prostitute. You have loved many other gods. So do you think you can return to me now?’ announces the LORD.2‘Look up at the bare hilltops. Is there any place where you have not worshipped other gods? You have been unfaithful to me like a wife committing adultery. By the side of the road you sat waiting for lovers. You sat there like someone who wanders in the desert. You have made the land impure. You are like a sinful prostitute.3So I have held back the showers. I have kept the spring rains from falling. But you still have the bold face of a prostitute. You refuse to blush with shame.4You have just now called out to me. You said, “My Father, you have been my friend ever since I was young.5Will you always be angry with me? Will your anger continue for ever?” This is how you talk. But you do all the evil things you can.’
Israel is not faithful to the Lord
6During the time Josiah was king, the LORD spoke to me. He said, ‘Have you seen what the people of Israel have done? They have not been faithful to me. They have committed adultery with other gods. They worshipped them on every high hill and under every green tree.7I thought that after they had done all this, they would return to me. But they did not. Their sister nation Judah saw them doing this. And they were not faithful to me either.8I gave Israel their letter of divorce. I sent them away because they were unfaithful to me so many times. But I saw that their sister nation Judah did not have any respect for me. They were not faithful to me either. They also went out and committed adultery with other gods.9Israel was not faithful to me, but that did not bother them at all. They made the land “unclean”. They worshipped gods that were made out of stone and wood.10In spite of all this, their sister nation Judah did not come back to me. They were not faithful to me either. They did not return with all their heart. They only pretended to,’ announces the LORD.11The LORD said to me, ‘Israel and Judah have not been faithful to me. But Israel was not as bad as Judah was.12Go. Announce this message to the people in the north. Tell them, ‘ “Israel, you have not been faithful,” announces the LORD. “Return to me. Then I will do good things for you again. That’s because I am faithful,” announces the LORD. “I will not be angry with you for ever.13Admit that you are guilty of doing what is wrong. You have refused to obey me. I am the LORD your God. You have committed adultery with other gods. You worshipped them under every green tree. And you have not obeyed me,” ’ announces the LORD.14‘You people have not been faithful,’ announces the LORD. ‘Return to me. I am your husband. I will choose one of you from each town. I will choose two from each territory. And I will bring you to the city of Zion.15Then I will give you shepherds who are dear to my heart. Their knowledge and understanding will help them lead you.16In those days there will be many more of you in the land,’ announces the LORD. ‘Then people will not talk about the ark of the covenant of the LORD anymore. It will never enter their minds. They will not remember it. The ark will not be missed. And another one will not be made.17At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD. All the nations will gather together there. They will go there to honour me. They will no longer do what their stubborn and evil hearts want them to do.18In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel. Together they will come from a land in the north. They will come to the land I gave to your people of long ago. I wanted them to have it as their very own.19‘I myself said, ‘ “I would gladly treat you like my children. I would give you a pleasant land. It is the most beautiful land any nation could have.” I thought you would call me “Father”. I hoped you would always obey me.20But you people are like a woman who is not faithful to her husband. Israel, you have not been faithful to me,’ announces the LORD.21A cry is heard on the bare hilltops. The people of Israel are weeping and begging for help. That’s because their lives are so twisted. They’ve forgotten the LORD their God.22‘You have not been faithful,’ says the LORD. ‘Return to me. I will heal you. Then you will not turn away from me anymore.’ ‘Yes’, the people say. ‘We will come to you. You are the LORD our God.23The gods we worship on the hills and mountains are useless. You are the LORD our God. You are the only one who can save us.24From our earliest years shameful gods have harmed us. They have eaten up everything our people of long ago worked for. They have eaten up our flocks and herds. They’ve destroyed our sons and daughters.25Let us lie down in our shame. Let our dishonour cover us. You are the LORD our God. But we have sinned against you. We and our people of long ago have sinned. We haven’t obeyed you from our earliest years until now.’
Jeremiah 3
English Standard Version
1“If[1] a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s wife, will he return to her? Would not that land be greatly polluted? You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? declares the Lord. (De 24:1; Ps 106:38; Jer 2:20; Jer 3:9)2Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been ravished? By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers like an Arab in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your vile whoredom. (Nu 23:3; Jer 3:1; Jer 3:21; Jer 3:23; Jer 4:11; Jer 7:29; Eze 16:25)3Therefore the showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come; yet you have the forehead of a whore; you refuse to be ashamed. (De 28:24; Jer 6:15; Jer 9:12; Jer 14:22; Eze 3:7)4Have you not just now called to me, ‘My father, you are the friend of my youth— (Lu 15:18)5will he be angry forever, will he be indignant to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken, but you have done all the evil that you could.” (Ps 103:9)
Faithless Israel Called to Repentance
6The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? (Jer 1:2; Jer 2:20; Jer 3:1)7And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. (Eze 16:46; Eze 23:4)8She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. (De 24:1; 2Ki 17:18; Jer 3:1; Eze 23:11; Ho 1:6; Ho 1:9; Mt 19:7; Mr 10:4)9Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. (Jer 2:27)10Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord.” (Ho 7:14)11And the Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. (Eze 16:51)12Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, “‘Return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the Lord; I will not be angry forever. (De 30:1; Ps 86:5; Ps 86:15; Ps 103:9; Pr 28:13; Jer 3:18)13Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the Lord. (Le 26:40; Jer 3:6)14Return, O faithless children, declares the Lord; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. (Isa 54:5; Isa 62:5; Jer 3:22; Ho 2:19; Ho 14:1; Mal 2:11)15“And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. (Jer 23:4; Eze 34:23; Joh 10:11; Ac 20:28)16And when you have multiplied and been fruitful in the land, in those days, declares the Lord, they shall no more say, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again.17At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart. (Isa 2:2; Isa 60:9)18In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers for a heritage. (Isa 11:13; Jer 3:12; Jer 16:15; Jer 23:8; Jer 31:8; Jer 50:4; Eze 37:21; Ho 1:11; Am 9:15)19“I said, How I would set you among my sons, and give you a pleasant land, a heritage most beautiful of all nations. And I thought you would call me, My Father, and would not turn from following me. (Isa 63:16)20Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband, so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel, declares the Lord.’” (Jer 3:7; Jer 5:11)21A voice on the bare heights is heard, the weeping and pleading of Israel’s sons because they have perverted their way; they have forgotten the Lord their God. (Jer 3:2; Jer 31:9)22“Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness.” “Behold, we come to you, for you are the Lord our God. (Isa 57:18; Jer 3:14; Jer 30:17; Ho 6:1)23Truly the hills are a delusion, the orgies[2] on the mountains. Truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. (Ps 3:8; Ps 121:1; Jer 3:21)24“But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our fathers labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.25Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.” (Ezr 9:6; Ezr 9:7; Job 8:22; Eze 2:3)