Jeremiah 3
3
Jeremiah’s summons to change
1If a man divorces his wife,
and after she leaves him marries another,
can he return to her again?
Wouldn’t such an act completely corrupt the land?
Yet you have prostituted yourself with many lovers.
Would you return to me?
declares the LORD.
2Look to the well-traveled paths#3.2 Or bare heights and see!
Where haven’t you committed adultery?
On the roadsides you sit in wait for lovers,
like a nomad in the wilderness.
You have corrupted the land
with your cheap and reckless behavior.
3That’s why the showers have failed
and the spring rains have ceased.
Still you act like a brazen prostitute#3.3 Or You have a prostitute’s forehead.
who refuses to blush.
4At the same time you say to me,
“My father, my friend since youth,
5will you stay angry forever?
Will you continue to be furious?”
This is what you say
while you do as much evil as you possibly can.
6During the rule of King Josiah, the LORD said to me: Have you noticed what unfaithful Israel has done? She’s gone about looking for lovers on top of every high hill and under every lush tree. 7I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me, but she didn’t. Her disloyal sister Judah saw this. 8She#3.8 LXX, Syr; MT I also saw that I sent unfaithful Israel away with divorce papers because of all her acts of unfaithfulness; yet disloyal sister Judah was not afraid but kept on playing the prostitute. 9She didn’t think twice about corrupting the land and committing adultery with stone and tree. 10Yet even after all this, disloyal sister Judah didn’t return to me with all her heart but only insincerely, declares the LORD. 11Then the LORD said to me: Unfaithful Israel is less guilty#3.11 Or more righteous than disloyal Judah.
12Go proclaim these words to the north and say:
Return, unfaithful Israel,
declares the LORD.
I won’t reject you,
for I’m faithful,
declares the LORD;
I won’t stay angry forever.
13Only acknowledge your wrongdoing:
how you have rebelled against the LORD your God,
and given yourself to strangers
under every lush tree
and haven’t obeyed me,
declares the LORD.
14Return, rebellious children,
declares the LORD,
for I’m your husband.
I’ll gather you—
one from a city and two from a tribe—
and bring you back to Zion.
15I will appoint shepherds with whom I’m pleased, and they will lead you with knowledge and understanding. 16And in those days, when your numbers have greatly increased in the land, declares the LORD, people will no longer talk about the LORD’s covenant chest; they won’t recall or remember it; they won’t even miss it or try to build another one. 17At that time, they will call Jerusalem the LORD’s throne, and all nations will gather there to honor the LORD’s name. No longer will they follow their own willful and evil hearts. 18In those days the people of Judah and Israel will leave the north together for the land that I gave their ancestors as an inheritance.
19I thought to myself, How wonderful it would be
to treat you like children
and give you a beautiful land,
an inheritance unrivaled among the nations.
And I thought, You will call me father,
and you won’t turn away from me.
20But as a woman betrays her lover,
so you, people of Israel, have betrayed me,
declares the LORD.
21A voice is heard on the well-traveled paths;#3.21 Or bare heights
it’s the crying and pleading of the people of Israel,
who have lost their way
and forgotten the LORD their God.
22Return, rebellious children,
and I will heal your rebellion.
“Here we are; we come to you,
for you are the LORD our God.
23Surely what happens on the hills#3.23 LXX, Syr, Vulg; MT from the hills is a waste,
as is the uproar on the mountains.
Only in the LORD our God
is the salvation of Israel.
24From our youth, shame#3.24 Or the shame has devoured
the fruit of our parents’ labor—
their flocks and herds,
as well as their sons and daughters.
25Let’s lie down in our shame.
Let our dishonor cover us,
for we have sinned against the LORD our God,
both we and our ancestors,
from our youth to this very day.
We have disobeyed the voice of the LORD our God.”
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Jeremiah 3: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
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.