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
Wages of Apostasy
1If # One Hb ms, LXX, Syr; other Hb mss read Saying: If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him to marry another,
can he ever return to her? # Dt 24:1-4
Wouldn’t such a land # LXX reads woman become totally defiled?
But you!
You have played the prostitute with many partners # Ezk 16:26,28 —
can you return to Me? # Hs 2:7
This is the Lord’s declaration.
2Look to the barren heights # Dt 12:2; Ezk 16:52 and see.
Where have you not been immoral?
You sat waiting for them beside the highways # Gn 38:14; Pr 7:10-12; Ezk 16:25
like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land
with your prostitution and wickedness. # Nm 14:33
3This is why the showers haven’t come # Zch 14:7 —
why there has been no spring rain.
You have the brazen look # Ezk 3:7-8 of a prostitute # Lit have a prostitute’s forehead
and refuse to be ashamed. # Jr 6:15; 8:12
4Have you not lately called to Me, “My Father. # Ex 4:22; Is 1:2; 64:8; Hs 11:1; Gl 4:6
You were my friend in my youth. # Ps 71:17; Hs 2:15
5Will He bear a grudge forever? # Lv 19:18; Ps 103:9; Is 57:16; Nah 1:2
Will He be endlessly infuriated? ”
This is what you have said,
but you have done the evil things
you are capable of.
Unfaithful Israel, Treacherous Judah
6In the days of King Josiah the Lord asked me, “Have you seen what unfaithful Israel has done? She has ascended every high hill and gone under every green tree to prostitute herself there. # Jr 2:20 7I thought: After she has done all these things, she will return to Me. # Hs 14:1 But she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah # Ezk 16:46 saw it. 8I # One Hb ms, Syr read She observed that it was because unfaithful Israel had committed adultery that I had sent her away and had given her a certificate of divorce. # Dt 24:1-4; Is 50:1; Hs 2:2 Nevertheless, her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid but also went and prostituted herself. # Ezk 23:11 9Indifferent to # Lit From the lightness of her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones # Is 57:6 and trees. # Dt 28:36; Jr 2:27; Ezk 20:32; Hab 2:19; Rv 9:20 10Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah didn’t return to Me with all her heart # Hs 7:14 — only in pretense.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
11The Lord announced to me, “Unfaithful Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. # Ezk 16:51-52; 23:11 12Go, proclaim these words to the north, and say:
Return, unfaithful Israel. # Pr 28:13
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will not look on you with anger, # Lit not cause My face to fall on you
for I am unfailing in My love. # Ps 86:5; 145:17
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will not be angry forever. # Ps 103:9; Is 57:16; Mc 7:18
13Only acknowledge your guilt # Lv 26:40; 1Jn 1:9 —
you have rebelled against the Lord your God. # 2Kg 18:20; Is 36:5; Jr 2:29
You have scattered your favors to strangers
under every green tree # Dt 12:2; 2Kg 16:4; 2Ch 28:4; Is 57:5; Jr 2:20; 3:6,13; Ezk 20:47
and have not obeyed My voice.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
14“Return, you faithless children” # Hs 14:1 — this is the Lord’s declaration — “for I am your master, # Hs 2:16-17 and I will take you, # Hs 2:19-20 one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. 15I will give you shepherds who are loyal to Me, # Lit shepherds according to My heart # 1Sm 13:14; Jr 23:4; Ezk 34:23; Ac 20:28; Eph 4:11 and they will shepherd you with knowledge and skill. 16When you multiply and increase in the land, # Gn 1:28; Ex 1:12 in those days” — the Lord’s declaration — “no one will say any longer, ‘The ark of the Lord’s covenant.’ # Ex 37:1-9; Dt 31:24-29; 1Kg 8:6 It will never come to mind, and no one will remember or miss it. It will never again be made. 17At that time Jerusalem will be called, Yahweh’s Throne, # Ezk 43:7; Rv 22:1,3 and all the nations will be gathered to it, # Is 2:2-4; 43:9; 56:6-7; 66:18; Jr 16:19 to the name of Yahweh in Jerusalem. # Dt 12:5 They will cease to follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. 18In those days the house of Judah will join with the house of Israel, # Is 11:12-13; Jr 50:4-5; Ezk 37:15-22; Hs 11:1 and they will come together from the land of the north to the land I have given your ancestors to inherit.” # Am 9:15
True Repentance
19I thought: How I long to make you My sons
and give you a desirable land,
the most beautiful inheritance # Dt 32:8-9; Ps 16:6; Lm 2:15; Ezk 20:6,15 of all the nations.
I thought: You will call Me, my Father,
and never turn away from Me.
20However, as a woman may betray her lover, # Lit friend
so you have betrayed # Ex 21:8-9; Is 48:8; Hs 1:2; 5:7; 6:7 Me, house of Israel.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
21A sound is heard on the barren heights,
the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy,
for they have perverted their way;
they have forgotten the Lord their God. # Is 17:10
22Return, you faithless children.
I will heal your unfaithfulness. # Is 57:18; Hs 5:15–6:3; 14:1-3
“Here we are, coming to You,
for You are the Lord our God.
23Surely, falsehood comes from the hills,
commotion from the mountains, # Ps 121:1-2
but the salvation of Israel
is only in the Lord our God. # Ps 3:8; Jr 17:5-8
24From the time of our youth
the shameful one # = Baal has consumed
what our fathers have worked for —
their flocks and their herds,
their sons and their daughters.
25Let us lie down in our shame;
let our disgrace cover us. # Jb 8:22; Ezr 9:6
We have sinned against the Lord our God, # Is 64:5; Jr 8:14; 14:7,20; Lm 3:42; 5:16; Dn 9:5
both we and our fathers,
from the time of our youth even to this day. # Ezr 9:7; Ezk 2:3
We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”
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