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."
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 3: CPDV
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Jeremiah 3
3
Unfaithful Judah
1Here’s what Yahweh says:
“If a man divorces his wife
and she marries another,
would he return to her again? # 3:1 See Deut. 24:1–4.
Doing that would thoroughly defile the land. # 3:1 Or “the woman” (LXX).
And you, Israel, have prostituted yourself with many lovers,
yet now you want to come back to me?
I, Yahweh, have spoken.
2“Look up to the barren heights # 3:2 The phrase “barren heights” refers to the high places where Israel worshiped false gods. and carefully consider:
Is there any place where you have not offered yourself as a prostitute?
You have sat by the roadside waiting for lovers,
sitting like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
3Therefore, I have withheld the rains,
and the spring showers have not come. # 3:3 See Deut. 11:16–17.
Yet, there you sit with the shameless, brazen look of a prostitute # 3:3 Or “you have the forehead of a prostitute.”
who refuses to blush. # 3:3 See Jer. 6:15; 8:12.
4And yet you have the nerve to say to me,
‘Father! You’ve been my trusted companion as long as I’ve lived.
5Surely, you won’t hold a grudge against me forever, right?
You won’t always be angry with me, will you?’
This is only what you say,
but you keep on doing all the evil you can get away with!”
Two Unfaithful Sisters
6During Josiah’s # 3:6 Josiah is mentioned twenty times in Jeremiah, almost always favorably. reign as king of Judah, Yahweh asked me, “Did you see what unfaithful # 3:6 Or “faithless.” The prophets consistently employed adultery as a metaphor for idolatry. Israel has done? Like an adulterous wife, she has turned away from me. In every high place and under every green tree, she has prostituted herself to worship other gods. 7I thought that after all she had done, she would return to me, but she did not return. Meanwhile her treacherous sister, Judah, looked on. 8She saw me give unfaithful Israel her divorce papers and send her away because of her continued adultery. Her treacherous sister, Judah, likewise had no fear; she, too, acted like a prostitute. 9Her infidelity mattered little to her. She polluted the land and committed adultery by worshiping idolatrous stone and wood pillars. 10Even after all this, Israel’s treacherous sister, Judah, refused to return to me with her whole heart; instead, she came with only deceitful lies,” # 3:10 See Isa. 29:13. declared Yahweh.
11And Yahweh continued, “Even unfaithful Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12Go and carry this message to those living in the north:
“ ‘Yahweh is speaking to you, unfaithful Israel:
Return to me. For my faithful love for you never ends.
No frown of mine awaits you,
declares Yahweh.
I will not remain angry with you forever,
for I am merciful, declares Yahweh.
13Only admit your guilt!
You have rebelled against Yahweh your God.
You have lavished your love on foreign gods under every green tree.
You have not listened to my voice.
I, Yahweh, have spoken.’ ”
14“ ‘I say to you,
Come back to me, my wayward # 3:14 Or “faithless.” children,
and I will restore you.
I will take you, one from each city and two from each clan,
and bring you home to Zion # 3:14 To the Jewish people, Zion is representative of the land of Israel, a section of the city of Jerusalem, and the location of the temple, and thus the representation of Yahweh’s presence among his people. However, there is a spiritual Zion that believers have already come to (see Heb. 12:22). Zion etymologically has many possible meanings. Zion can mean “conspicuous,” “sunny,” “clear,” “unobstructed,” “sunshine,” “set up,” “placed,” “established,” “constituted,” “commanded,” “fortress,” “monument,” “column,” or “landmark.”
because I alone am your true husband.’ ” # 3:14 Or “master.” The Hebrew verb in this phrase derives from the same stem as the word for “Baal”: baalti, which means “I am married.” Thus, this is a play on words. See Hos. 2:16.
The Promise of True Shepherds
15“ ‘I will give you true shepherds who follow my heart, # 3:15 Or “whose thinking is like mine.” See 1 Sam. 13:14. Godly leaders who follow God’s heart are the key to the restoration taught in this chapter. See Ps. 23:1–6; Isa. 1:26; Ezek. 34:11–16; Obad. 21; John 10:1–21; 1 Cor. 12:28; Eph. 4:11. and they will feed you with revelation-knowledge and deep understanding.’ ”
16Yahweh says, “When my children have increased and prospered in the land, then no one will mention the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. It will never even come to mind. No one will remember it, miss it, or make another one. # 3:16 Scripture nowhere even hints that the ark of the covenant is to be found, rebuilt, or used again in the worship of Yahweh. The people of God will be like the ark in God’s presence (see v. 17). This points to the new covenant with an ever-increasing glory. See Jer. 31:1–40; 2 Cor. 3:7–18. 17When that day comes, they will call Jerusalem the throne of Yahweh. # 3:17 That is, the mercy seat. All nations will be drawn there to be in the presence of Yahweh. # 3:17 Or “in the name of Yahweh.” The name of Yahweh represents Yahweh himself. Being in God’s presence, in spirit and in truth, is the true spiritual worship of Yahweh. See John 4:21–24. They will no longer stubbornly follow their own evil hearts. 18In those days, the nation of Judah will unite with the nation of Israel. And together, they will return from the northern lands # 3:18 The northern lands include both Assyria and Babylonia, reflecting the fall of Samaria in 722 BC and the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. These were the lands from which Israel and Judah returned after their exile. to the land that I gave your ancestors as your own inheritance.”
The Return of the Prodigal Son
19“I, Yahweh, said:
“ ‘What bliss would fill my heart to treat you like an honored son!
What joy would fill my heart to give you a land of delights,
the most glorious and beautiful inheritance among the nations.’
I longed for the day when you would call me ‘Father’
and not turn away from me.
20Instead, as a treacherous wife betrays her husband,
so, you, nation of Israel, have betrayed me.
I, Yahweh, have spoken.”
21I hear the sound of voices echoing from the barren hills, # 3:21 See v. 2.
the bitter weeping of the sons of Israel pleading for mercy
because they lost their moral way
and have forgotten Yahweh their God.
22“Come back to me, you unfaithful ones!
Let me heal your waywardness and restore your faithfulness.”
“We’re here!
We’re coming back to you, Yahweh, because you are our God.
23We see it now.
Our idolatrous worship on the high places
and our noisy commotion on the mountains
were nothing but delusions.
Only you, Yahweh our God, can save us.
24Ever since we were young,
Baal, the god of shame, # 3:24 Or “the shameful thing,” a euphemistic way of describing their worship of Baal.
has robbed us of the abundance our ancestors labored for—
their flocks and herds, their precious sons and daughters.
25We deserve to lie down in our shame
and be covered by our disgrace.
Ever since we were young,
we and our ancestors have sinned
against our God, Yahweh.
We failed to really listen to your voice, Yahweh our God.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Passion Translation® is a registered trademark of Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc.
Copyright © 2020 Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc.
Learn More About The Passion Translation