Jeremiah 3
3
1“They say, ‘If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and becomes another man’s, should he return to her again?’ Wouldn’t that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the prostitute with many lovers; yet return again to me,” says the LORD.
2“Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been lain with? You have sat waiting for them by the road, as an Arabian in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and with your wickedness. 3Therefore the showers have been withheld and there has been no latter rain; yet you have had a prostitute’s forehead and you refused to be ashamed. 4Will you not from this time cry to me, ‘My Father, you are the guide of my youth!’?
5“‘Will he retain his anger forever? Will he keep it to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken and have done evil things, and have had your way.”
6Moreover, the LORD said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and has played the prostitute there. 7I said after she had done all these things, ‘She will return to me;’ but she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8I saw when, for this very cause, that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet treacherous Judah, her sister, had no fear, but she also went and played the prostitute. 9Because she took her prostitution lightly, the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with wood. 10Yet for all this her treacherous sister, Judah, has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretence,” says the LORD.
11 The LORD said to me, “Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12Go, and proclaim these words towards the north, and say, ‘Return, you backsliding Israel,’ says the LORD; ‘I will not look in anger on you, for I am merciful,’ says the LORD. ‘I will not keep anger forever. 13Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the LORD your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice,’” says the LORD. 14“Return, backsliding children,” says the LORD, “for I am a husband to you. I will take one of you from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. 15I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16It will come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days,” says the LORD, “they will no longer say, ‘the ark of the LORD’s covenant!’ It will not come to mind. They won’t remember it. They won’t miss it, nor will another be made. 17At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The LORD’s Throne;’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the LORD’s name, to Jerusalem. They will no longer walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance to your fathers.
19“But I said, ‘How I desire to put you amongst the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations!’ and I said, ‘You shall call me “My Father”, and shall not turn away from following me.’
20“Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so you have dealt treacherously with me, house of Israel,” says the LORD. 21A voice is heard on the bare heights, the weeping and the petitions of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten the LORD their God. 22Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backsliding.
“Behold, we have come to you; for you are the LORD our God. 23Truly help from the hills, the tumult on the mountains, is in vain. Truly the salvation of Israel is in the LORD our God. 24But the shameful thing has devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. We have not obeyed the LORD our God’s voice.”
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 3: WMBBE
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
PUBLIC DOMAIN. "World Messianic Bible" is a trademark.
Jeremiah 3
3
Judah Is Unfaithful
1“Now a man might divorce his wife.
And she might leave him and marry another man.
Should her first husband come back to her again?
If he went back to her, the land would become completely unclean.
But you have acted like a prostitute with many lovers.
And now you want to come back to me?” says the Lord.
2“Look up to the bare hilltops, Judah.
Is there any place where you have not been a prostitute?
You have sat by the road waiting for lovers.
You sat there like an Arab in the desert.
You made the land unclean.
This was because you did evil and were like a prostitute.
3So the rain has not come.
There have not been any spring rains.
But your face still looks like the face of a prostitute.
You refuse even to be ashamed of what you did.
4But now you are calling to me.
You say, ‘My father, you have been my friend since I was young.
5Will you always be angry at me?
Will your anger last forever?’
Judah, you say this,
but you do as much evil as you can!”
Judah and Israel Are like Sisters
6When King Josiah was ruling Judah, the Lord spoke to me. He said: “Jeremiah, you saw what unfaithful Israel did. She was guilty of adultery. She had idols on every hill and under every green tree. 7I said to myself, ‘Israel will come back to me after she does this evil.’ But she didn’t come back to me. And Israel’s wicked sister Judah saw what Israel did. 8Unfaithful Israel knew that I divorced her because of her adultery. But that didn’t make her wicked sister Judah afraid. She also went out and acted like a prostitute! 9And she didn’t care that she was acting like a prostitute. So she made her country unclean. She was guilty of adultery. This was because she worshiped idols made of stone and wood. 10Israel’s wicked sister didn’t come back to me with her whole heart. She only pretended to come back to me,” says the Lord.
11The Lord said to me, “Unfaithful Israel had a better excuse than wicked Judah. 12Go and speak this message toward the north:
‘Come back, unfaithful people of Israel,’ says the Lord.
‘I will stop frowning at you.
I am full of mercy,’ says the Lord.
‘I will not be angry with you forever.
13All you have to do is admit your sin.
You turned against the Lord your God.
You worshiped the false gods of other nations.
You worshiped them under every green tree.
You didn’t obey me,’” says the Lord.
14“Come back to me, you unfaithful people,” says the Lord. “I am your husband. I will take one person from every city. And I will take two people from every family group. And I will bring you to Jerusalem. 15Then I will give you new rulers. They will be faithful to me. They will lead you with knowledge and understanding. 16In those days there will be many of you in the land,” says the Lord. “At that time people will no longer say, ‘I remember the Ark of the Covenant.’ They won’t even think about the Ark of the Covenant anymore. They won’t even remember or miss it or make another one. 17At that time Jerusalem will be called The Throne of the Lord. All nations will come together in Jerusalem to show respect to the Lord. They will not follow their stubborn, evil hearts anymore. 18In those days the family of Judah will join the family of Israel. They will come together from a land in the north. They will come to the land I gave to their ancestors.
19“I, the Lord, said,
‘How happy I would be to treat you as sons!
I would be glad to give you a pleasant land.
It’s a land more beautiful than that of any other nation.’
I thought you would call me ‘Father’
and not turn away from me.
20But like a woman who is unfaithful to her husband,
family of Israel, you have been unfaithful to me,” says the Lord.
21You can hear crying on the bare hilltops.
The people of Israel are crying and praying for mercy.
They have become very evil.
They have forgotten the Lord their God.
22“Come back to me, you unfaithful people of Israel.
Come back, and I will forgive you for being unfaithful.”
“Yes, we will come to you.
You are the Lord our God.
23It was foolish to worship idols on the hills.
All the loud noises on the mountains were a lie.
Surely the salvation of Israel
comes from the Lord our God.
24Since we were young, shameful gods have eaten up in sacrifice
everything our fathers worked for.
The shameful gods have taken our fathers’ sheep and cattle.
They have taken our fathers’ sons and daughters.
25Let us lie down in our shame.
And let our shame cover us like a blanket.
We have sinned against the Lord our God.
Both we and our fathers have sinned.
Since we were children and until now,
we have not obeyed the Lord our God.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.