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.”
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Jeremiah 3
3
1If a man divorces his wife#Dt 24:1–4.
and she leaves him
and then becomes the wife of another,
Can she return to the first?#Can she return to the first?: i.e., her first husband. Here the Hebrew is emended in light of the Septuagint and Dt 24:1–4, which forbids a man to take back a woman once he has divorced her. The prophet uses this analogy to illustrate the presumption of Judah, the unfaithful wife, who assumes she can easily return to the Lord after worshiping other gods.
Would not this land be wholly defiled?
But you have played the prostitute with many lovers,
and yet you would return to me!—oracle of the Lord.
2Raise your eyes to the heights, and look,
where have men not lain with you?
Along the roadways you waited for them
like an Arabian#An Arabian: here depicted as a marauder lying in wait for caravans. in the wilderness.
You defiled the land
by your wicked prostitution.#Ex 16:24–25.
3Therefore the showers were withheld,
the spring rain did not fall.
But because you have a prostitute’s brow,
you refused to be ashamed.#Jer 6:15; 8:12.
4Even now do you not call me, “My father,
you are the bridegroom of my youth?
5Will he keep his wrath forever,
will he hold his grudge to the end?”
This is what you say; yet you do
all the evil you can.
Judah and Israel. 6The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: Do you see what rebellious Israel has done? She has gone up every high mountain, and under every green tree she has played the prostitute.#Jer 2:20; Dt 12:2. 7And I thought: After she has done all this, she will return to me. But she did not return. Then, even though that traitor her sister Judah, saw 8that, in response to all the adulteries rebel Israel had committed, I sent her away and gave her a bill of divorce, nevertheless Judah, the traitor, her sister, was not frightened; she too went off and played the prostitute.#2 Kgs 17:6, 18–23; Ez 23:11. 9With her casual prostitution, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and wood.#Jer 2:27. 10In spite of all this, Judah, the traitor, her sister, did not return to me wholeheartedly, but insincerely—oracle of the Lord.
Restoration of Israel. 11Then the Lord said to me: Rebel Israel is more just than traitor Judah.#Ez 16:51; 23:11. 12Go, proclaim these words toward the north, and say:
Return, rebel Israel—oracle of the Lord—
I will not remain angry with you;
For I am merciful, oracle of the Lord,
I will not keep my anger forever.#Dt 4:29–31.
13Only admit your guilt:
how you have rebelled against the Lord, your God,
How you ran here and there to strangers
under every green tree
and would not listen to my voice—oracle of the Lord.#Jer 2:20, 25; Lv 26:40.
14Return, rebellious children—oracle of the Lord—#A remnant of Israel (v. 14) will reunite with Judah (v. 18). The former Israelite community, represented by the ark of the covenant, will be replaced by a universal alliance, symbolized by Jerusalem, the Lord’s throne, to which all nations will be gathered (v. 17).
for I am your master;
I will take you, one from a city, two from a clan,
and bring you to Zion.#Jer 23:3; Is 10:21–22.
15I will appoint for you shepherds after my own heart,
who will shepherd you wisely and prudently.#Ez 34:23; Jn 21:15.
16When you increase in number and are fruitful in the land—
oracle of the Lord—
They will in those days no longer say,
“The ark of the covenant of the Lord!”
They will no longer think of it, or remember it,
or miss it, or make another one.
17At that time they will call Jerusalem “the Lord’s throne.” All nations will gather together there to honor the name of the Lord at Jerusalem, and they will no longer stubbornly follow their wicked heart.#Is 2:2. 18In those days the house of Judah will walk alongside the house of Israel; together they will come from the land of the north to the land which I gave your ancestors as a heritage.#Jer 30:3; 31:8.
Conditions for Forgiveness
19I thought:
How I would like to make you my children!
So I gave you a pleasant land,
the most beautiful heritage among the nations!
You would call me, “My Father,” I thought,
and you would never turn away from me.#Jer 31:9, 20; Is 63:16.
20But like a woman faithless to her lover,
thus have you been faithless to me,
house of Israel—oracle of the Lord.#Jer 5:11.
21A cry is heard on the heights!
the plaintive weeping of Israel’s children,
Because they have perverted their way,
they have forgotten the Lord, their God.
22Return, rebellious children!
I will heal your rebellions.
“Here we are! We belong to you,
for you are the Lord, our God.#Hos 3:5.
23Deceptive indeed are the hills,
the mountains, clamorous;
Only in the Lord our God
is Israel’s salvation.#Jer 14:8.
24The shameful thing#The shameful thing: Heb. bosheth (“shame”), a term often substituted for the name of Baal, a Canaanite god worshiped at local shrines. has devoured
our ancestors’ worth from our youth,
Their sheep and cattle,
their sons and daughters.
25Let us lie down in our shame,
let our disgrace cover us,
for we have sinned against the Lord, our God,
We and our ancestors, from our youth to this day;
we did not listen to the voice of the Lord, our God.”#Jer 16:11–12; 22:21.
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