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
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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