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
1 A saying:#Literally “to say” ‘Look, if a man divorces his wife,
and she goes from him and she becomes another man’s wife,#Literally “and she becomes to a man another”
will he return to her again?’
Will not that land be greatly defiled?
And you have prostituted yourself with many lovers,
would you now return to me?” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
2“Lift up your eyes at the barren heights,
and see where you have not been ravished.
Beside the roads you sat for them like an Arab in the desert,#Or “wilderness”
and you have defiled the land
with your fornication
and with your wickedness.
3Therefore rain showers have been withheld,
and the spring rain has not come.
Yet you have#Literally “it is for you” the forehead of a woman prostitute,
you refuse to be ashamed.
4Have you not just now called to me,
‘My father, you are the close friend of my youth?
5Will he be angry forever?#Literally “to eternity”
Will he maintain it always’?#Literally “to duration”
Look, you have spoken,
but you have done all the evil that you could.”#Literally “you have done the evil and you were able”
Yahweh Gives Israel a Letter of Divorce
6Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah, the king, “Have you seen what apostate#Or “unfaithful” Israel has done? She has gone on every high hill and under every leafy tree and she has prostituted herself there. 7And I thought, ‘After her doing all these things to me she will return,’ but she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation 8And I saw that for this very reason, that#Literally “because of all” on account of apostate#Or “unfaithful” Israel committing adultery I divorced her and gave the letter of divorce to her. Yet her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid and she went and prostituted herself also. 9And it was because of the frivolity of her fornication that she defiled the land and committed adultery with the stone and with the tree. 10Yet even in all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only#Literally “but if” in pretense,”#Or “deception” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
A Call for Repentance
11Then Yahweh said to me, “Apostate#Or “unfaithful” Israel has proved herself more upright#Or “righteous” than treacherous Judah. 12Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say,
‘Return, apostate#Or “unfaithful” Israel,’ declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
‘I will not cause my anger#Literally “faces” to fall on you.
For I am loyal,’ declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
‘I will not be angry forever.#Literally “to eternity”
13Only acknowledge your guilt,
that against Yahweh your God you have rebelled,
and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every leafy tree,
and you have not obeyed my voice,’ declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.”
14“Return, apostate#Or “unfaithful” children,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh. “For I am your master,#Literally “I rule over among you” and I will take you one from a city and two from a clan,#Or “family” and I will bring you to Zion. 15Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart and they will feed you knowledge and insight. 16And it will be when you have multiplied and become fruitful in the land in those days,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of Yahweh.’ And it will not come to mind,#Literally “it shall not go up on heart” nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it,#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation nor will it be made again. 17At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of Yahweh,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of Yahweh, to Jerusalem, and they will no longer go after the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18In those days the house of Judah will walk along with the house of Israel and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave as an inheritance to your ancestors.#Or “fathers”
19Then I thought, ‘How I would set you among the children,
and I would give you a land of desire,
an inheritance of the glory of the hosts of nations.’
And I thought, ‘You would call me, “My father,”
and you would not turn back from behind#Or “following” me.’
20However, as a wife departs treacherously from her lover,
so you have dealt treacherously with me,
O house of Israel,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
21“A voice is heard on the barren heights,
the weeping of the pleas for mercy of the children of Israel,
because they have perverted their way,
they have forgotten Yahweh their God.
22Return, O apostate#Or “unfaithful” children,
I will heal your backsliding.
‘Look, we come to you,
for you are Yahweh our God.
23Surely, an illusion comes from the hills,
the turmoil on the mountains.
Surely, in Yahweh our God
is the salvation of Israel.
24But the shameful thing has devoured
the labor of our ancestors#Or “fathers” from our youth,
their flocks, and their cattle,
their sons and their daughters.
25Let us lie down in our shame,
and let our disgrace cover us.
For against Yahweh our God we have sinned,
we and our ancestors,#Or “fathers”
from our youth and until this day.
and we have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God.’
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