Jeremiah 3
3
1 "It is commonly said: 'If a man has divorced his wife, and she departs from him, she will marry another man.' So why would he return to her again? Is not that woman polluted and defiled? But you have fornicated yourself with many lovers. Even so, return to me, says the Lord, and I will accept you.
2 Lift your eyes straight up, and see where you did not debase yourself. You were sitting in the roadways, waiting for them, like a robber in the wilderness. And you have polluted the land by your fornications and by your wickedness.
3 For this reason, the rain showers were withheld, and there were no late season rains. You made your face like that of a promiscuous woman; you were not willing to blush.
4 Therefore, at least from this moment on, call out to me: 'You are my father, the guide of my virginity.'
5 Why should you be angry unceasingly? And will you continue in this to the end? Behold, you have spoken and done evil, for you were able to do so."
6 And, in the days of king Josiah, the Lord said to me: "Have you not seen what the apostate Israel has done? She has brought herself up to every lofty mountain, and she has lain down under every leafy tree, and she has committed fornication there.
7 And when she had done all these things, I said: 'Return to me.' But she did not return. And her deceitful sister Judah saw this:
8 that because the apostate Israel had committed adultery, I had dismissed her and had given her a bill of divorce. Yet her deceitful sister Judah was not afraid. But she, too, went and committed fornication herself.
9 And by the act of her fornication, she defiled the land. For she committed adultery with that which is stone and wood.
10 And after all these things, her deceitful sister Judah has not returned to me with her whole heart, but with lies, says the Lord."
11 And the Lord said to me: "The apostate Israel has justified her own soul by comparing herself to the deceitful Judah.
12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and you shall say: Return, O apostate Israel, says the Lord. For I will not avert my face from you. For I am holy, says the Lord, and I will not be angry forever.
13 So then, truly acknowledge your iniquity, that you have betrayed the Lord your God, and that you have spread your ways to strangers, under every leafy tree, and that you have not listened to my voice, says the Lord.
14 Convert, O rebellious sons, says the Lord. For I am your leader. And so, I will take you, one from a city, and two from a family, and I will lead you into Zion.
15 And I will give you pastors according to my own heart. And they will feed you with knowledge and doctrine.
16 And when you have been multiplied and increased in the land in those days, says the Lord, they will no longer say: 'The Ark of the covenant of the Lord!' And it will not enter into the heart, and they will not call it to mind. It will neither be visited, nor made use of, any longer.
17 In that time, Jerusalem will be called: 'The Throne of the Lord.' And all the nations will be gathered to it, in the name of the Lord, in Jerusalem. And they will not walk after the depravity of their own most wicked heart.
18 In those days, the house of Judah will go to the house of Israel, and they will come from the land of the north, at the same time, to the land that I gave to your fathers.
19 But I said: How shall I place you among the sons, and distribute to you a desirable land, the preeminent inheritance of the host of the Gentiles? And I said: You will call me Father, and you will not cease to walk after me.
20 But, in the same way that a woman spurns her lover, so also has the house of Israel spurned me, says the Lord."
21 A voice has been heard in the highways, the weeping and wailing of the sons of Israel. For they have made their own ways sinful; they have forgotten the Lord their God.
22 "Convert, O rebellious sons! And I will heal your rebelliousness." "Behold, we are returning to you. For you are the Lord our God!
23 Truly, the hills were liars, with the multitude of the mountains. Truly, the salvation of Israel is in the Lord our God.
24 Confusion has devoured the labor of our fathers, from our youth, with their flocks and their herds, with their sons and their daughters.
25 We will sleep in our confusion, and our disgrace will cover us. For we have sinned against the Lord our God: we and our fathers, from our youth, even to this day. And we have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God."
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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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