Jeremiah 3
3
Israel Is Shameless
1“They say, ‘If a man divorces his wife,
And she goes from him
And becomes another man’s,
#Deut. 24:1–4May he return to her again?’
Would not that #Jer. 2:7land be greatly polluted?
But you have #Jer. 2:20; Ezek. 16:26played the harlot with many lovers;
#Jer. 4:1; (Zech. 1:3)Yet return to Me,” says the Lord.
2“Lift up your eyes to #Deut. 12:2; Jer. 2:20; 3:21; 7:29the desolate heights and see:
Where have you not lain with men?
#Prov. 23:28By the road you have sat for them
Like an Arabian in the wilderness;
#Jer. 2:7And you have polluted the land
With your harlotries and your wickedness.
3Therefore the #Lev. 26:19; Jer. 14:3–6showers have been withheld,
And there has been no latter rain.
You have had a #Zeph. 3:5harlot’s forehead;
You refuse to be ashamed.
4Will you not from this time cry to Me,
‘My Father, You are #Ps. 71:17; Prov. 2:17the guide of #Jer. 2:2; Hos. 2:15my youth?
5#Ps. 103:9; (Is. 57:16); Jer. 3:12Will He remain angry forever?
Will He keep it to the end?’
Behold, you have spoken and done evil things,
As you were able.”
A Call to Repentance
6The Lord said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: “Have you seen what #Jer. 7:24backsliding Israel has done? She has #Jer. 2:20gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot. 7#2 Kin. 17:13And I said, after she had done all these things, ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous #Jer. 3:11; Ezek. 16:47, 48sister Judah saw it. 8Then I saw that #Ezek. 23:9for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had #2 Kin. 17:6; Is. 50:1put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; #Ezek. 23:11yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. 9So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she #Jer. 2:7defiled the land and committed adultery with #Is. 57:6; Jer. 2:27stones and trees. 10And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me #Jer. 12:2; Hos. 7:14with her whole heart, but in pretense,” says the Lord.
11Then the Lord said to me, #Ezek. 16:51, 52“Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12Go and proclaim these words toward #2 Kin. 17:6the north, and say:
‘Return, backsliding Israel,’ says the Lord;
‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you.
For I am #Ps. 86:15; Jer. 12:15; 31:20; 33:26merciful,’ says the Lord;
‘I will not remain angry forever.
13#Lev. 26:40; Deut. 30:1, 2; (Prov. 28:13; 1 John 1:9)Only acknowledge your iniquity,
That you have transgressed against the Lord your God,
And have #Ezek. 16:15scattered your charms
To #Jer. 2:25alien deities #Deut. 12:2under every green tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the Lord.
14“Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; #Jer. 31:32; Hos. 2:19, 20“for I am married to you. I will take you, #Jer. 31:6one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to #(Rom. 11:5)Zion. 15And I will give you #Jer. 23:4; 31:10; (Ezek. 34:23); Eph. 4:11shepherds according to My heart, who will #Acts 20:28feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16“Then it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and #Is. 49:19; Jer. 23:3increased in the land in those days,” says the Lord, “that they will say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ #Is. 65:17It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made anymore.
17“At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, #Is. 60:9to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. No more shall they #Deut. 29:19; Jer. 7:24follow the dictates of their evil hearts.
18“In those days #Is. 11:13; Jer. 50:4; Ezek. 37:16–22; Hos. 1:11the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of #Jer. 31:8the north to #Amos 9:15the land that I have given as an inheritance to your fathers.
19“But I said:
‘How can I put you among the children
And give you #Ps. 106:24a pleasant land,
A beautiful heritage of the hosts of nations?’
“And I said:
‘You shall call Me, #Is. 63:16; Jer. 3:4“My Father,”
And not turn away from Me.’
20Surely, as a wife treacherously departs from her husband,
So #Is. 48:8have you dealt treacherously with Me,
O house of Israel,” says the Lord.
21A voice was heard on #Is. 15:2the desolate heights,
Weeping and supplications of the children of Israel.
For they have perverted their way;
They have forgotten the Lord their God.
22“Return, you backsliding children,
And I will #Jer. 30:17; 33:6; Hos. 6:1; 14:4heal your backslidings.”
“Indeed we do come to You,
For You are the Lord our God.
23#Ps. 121:1, 2Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills,
And from the multitude of mountains;
#Ps. 3:8; Prov. 21:31; Jer. 17:14; 31:7; Jon. 2:9Truly, in the Lord our God
Is the salvation of Israel.
24#Jer. 11:13; 14:20; Hos. 9:10For shame has devoured
The labor of our fathers from our youth—
Their flocks and their herds,
Their sons and their daughters.
25We lie down in our shame,
And our reproach covers us.
#Ezra 9:6, 7For we have sinned against the Lord our God,
We and our fathers,
From our youth even to this day,
And #Jer. 22:21have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”
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Jeremiah 3: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Yirmeyahu (Jer) 3
3
1[Adonai] says:
“If a man divorces his wife,
and she leaves him and marries another man,
then if the first one marries her again,
that land will be completely defiled.
But you prostituted yourself to many lovers,
yet you want to return to me?” says Adonai.
2“Raise your eyes to the bare hills, take a look:
where have you not had sex?
You sat by the roadsides waiting for them
like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land
with your prostitution and wickedness.
3For this reason the showers have been withheld,
there has been no rain in the spring;
still you maintain a whore’s brazen look
and refuse to be ashamed.
4Didn’t you just now cry to me,
‘My father, you are my friend from my youth’? —
5[thinking,] ‘He won’t bear a grudge forever, will he?
He wouldn’t maintain it right to the end.’
You say this, but you keep doing evil things,
you just do whatever you want.”
6In the days of Yoshiyahu the king, Adonai asked me, “Have you seen the things that backsliding Isra’el has been doing? She goes up on every bare hill and under every green tree and prostitutes herself there. 7I said that after she had done all these things, she would return to me; but she hasn’t returned. Meanwhile, her unfaithful sister Y’hudah has been watching. 8I saw that even though backsliding Isra’el had committed adultery, so that I had sent her away and given her a divorce document, unfaithful Y’hudah her sister was not moved to fear — instead she too went and prostituted herself. 9The ease with which Isra’el prostituted herself defiled the land, as she committed adultery with stones and with logs. 10Yet in spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Y’hudah has not returned to me wholeheartedly; she only makes a pretense of it,” said Adonai.
11Then Adonai said to me, “Backsliding Isra’el has proved herself more righteous than unfaithful Y’hudah. 12Go and proclaim these words toward the north:
‘“Return, backsliding Isra’el,” says Adonai.
“I will not frown on you, for I am merciful,” says Adonai.
“I will not bear a grudge forever.
13Only acknowledge your guilt,
that you have committed crimes
against Adonai your God,
that you were promiscuous with strangers
under every green tree,
and that you have not paid attention
to my voice,” says Adonai.
14“Return, backsliding children,” says Adonai;
“for I am your master.
I will take you, one from a city,
two from a family, and bring you to Tziyon.
15I will give you shepherds
after my own heart,
and they will feed you
with knowledge and understanding.
16“‘“And,” says Adonai, “in those days, when your numbers have increased in the land, people will no longer talk about the ark for the covenant of Adonai — they won’t think about it, they won’t miss it, and they won’t make another one. 17When that time comes, they will call Yerushalayim the throne of Adonai. All the nations will be gathered there to the name of Adonai, to Yerushalayim. No longer will they live according to their stubbornly evil hearts. 18In those days, the house of Y’hudah will live together with the house of Isra’el; they will come together from the lands in the north to the land I gave your ancestors as their heritage.
19“‘“I thought that I would like to put you among the sons [with inheritance rights] and give you a pleasant land, the best heritage of all the nations. I thought that you would call me ‘My father’ and never stop following me. 20But like a faithless woman who betrays her husband, you, house of Isra’el, have betrayed me,” says Adonai.’”
21A sound is heard on the heights,
the house of Isra’el crying, pleading for mercy,
because they have perverted their way
and forgotten Adonai their God.
22“Return, backsliding children,
and I will heal your backsliding.”
“Here we are, we are coming to you,
for you are Adonai our God.
23Indeed the hills have proved a delusion,
likewise the orgies on the mountains.
Truly the salvation of Isra’el
is in Adonai our God.
24But from our youth the shameful thing [idolatry]
has devoured the fruit of our ancestors’ work,
their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.
25Let us lie down in our shame,
let our disgrace cover us,
for we have sinned against Adonai our God,
both we and our ancestors,
from our youth until today;
we have not paid attention
to the voice of Adonai our God.”
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