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.”
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Jeremiah 3: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.