Jeremiah 3
3
Sin and Shame
1The Lord said to the people of Israel:
If a divorced woman marries,
can her first husband
ever marry her again?
No, because this
would pollute the land.
But you have more gods
than a prostitute has lovers.
Why should I take you back?
2Just try to find one hilltop
where you haven't gone
to worship other gods
by having sex.#3.2 hilltop … sex: See the note at 2.20.
You sat beside the road
like a robber in ambush,
except you offered yourself
to every passerby.
Your sins of unfaithfulness
have polluted the land.
3So I, the Lord, refused
to let the spring rains fall.
But just like a prostitute,
you still have no shame
for what you have done.
4You call me your father
or your long-lost friend;
5you beg me to stop being angry,
but you won't stop sinning.
The Lord Asks Israel To Come Back to Him
6 #
2 K 22.1—23.30; 2 Ch 34.1—35.27. When Josiah#3.6 Josiah: Ruled 640–609 b.c. was king, the Lord said:
Jeremiah, the kingdom of Israel#3.6 Israel: The northern kingdom (see the note at 2.4). was like an unfaithful wife who became a prostitute on the hilltops and in the shade of large trees.#3.6 prostitute … trees: See the note at 2.20. 7-8I knew that the kingdom of Israel had been unfaithful and committed many sins, yet I still hoped she might come back to me. But she didn't, so I divorced her and sent her away.
Her sister, the kingdom of Judah, saw what happened, but she wasn't worried in the least, and I watched her become unfaithful like her sister. 9The kingdom of Judah wasn't sorry for being a prostitute, and she didn't care that she had made both herself and the land unclean by worshiping idols of stone and wood. 10And worst of all, the people of Judah pretended to come back to me. 11Even the people of Israel were honest enough not to pretend.
12Jeremiah, shout toward the north:
Israel, I am your Lord—
come back to me!
You were unfaithful
and made me furious,
but I am merciful,
and so I will forgive you.
13Just admit that you rebelled
and worshiped foreign gods
under large trees everywhere.
14You are unfaithful children,
but you belong to me.
Come home!
I'll take one or two of you
from each town and clan
and bring you to Zion.
15Then I'll appoint wise rulers
who will obey me,
and they will care for you
like shepherds.
16You will increase in numbers,
and there will be no need
to remember the sacred chest
or to make a new one.#3.16 make a new one: The sacred chest was probably destroyed or taken away by the Babylonians when they captured Jerusalem in 586 b.c.
17The whole city of Jerusalem
will be my throne.#3.16,17 sacred chest … throne: The sacred chest was thought to be God's throne on earth.
All nations will come here
to worship me,
and they will no longer follow
their stubborn, evil hearts.
18Then, in countries to the north,
you people of Judah and Israel
will be reunited,
and you will return to the land
I gave your ancestors.
19I have always wanted
to treat you as my children
and give you the best land,
the most beautiful on earth.
I wanted you to call me “Father”
and not turn from me.
20But instead, you are like a wife
who broke her wedding vows.
You have been unfaithful to me.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
The People Confess Their Sins
The Lord said:
21Listen to the noise
on the hilltops!
It's the people of Israel,
weeping and begging me
to answer their prayers.
They forgot about me
and chose the wrong path.
22I will tell them, “Come back,
and I will cure you
of your unfaithfulness.”
They will answer,
“We will come back, because you
are the Lord our God.
23On hilltops, we worshiped idols
and made loud noises,
but it was all for nothing—
only you can save us.
24Since the days of our ancestors
when our nation was young,
that shameful god Baal#3.24 that shameful god Baal: The Hebrew text has “The Shame,” which was sometimes used as a way of making fun of the Canaanite god Baal. has taken
our crops and livestock,
our sons and daughters.
25We have rebelled against you
just like our ancestors,
and we are ashamed of our sins.”
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Jeremiah 3: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. 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.