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
Unfaithful Israel
1#Dt 24:1–4; Jer 2:20If a man divorces his wife,
and she goes from him and becomes another man’s,
shall he return to her again?
Shall not that land be greatly polluted?
But you have played the harlot with many lovers;
yet return again to Me,
says the Lord.
2#Ge 38:14; Jer 2:7 Lift up your eyes to the high places,
and see! Where have you not been ravished?
In the roads you have sat for them
as the Arabian in the wilderness.
And you have polluted the land
with your harlotry and with your wickedness.
3#Jer 6:15; Lev 26:19 Therefore the showers have been withheld,
and there has been no latter rain.
And you had a harlot’s forehead;
you refused to be ashamed.
4#Jer 2:2; 3:19 Shall you not from this time cry to Me,
“My Father, You are the guide of my youth?
5#Isa 57:16; Jer 3:12 Shall He reserve His anger forever?
Shall He keep it to the end?”
Indeed, you have spoken
and done evil things as you could.
A Call to Repentance
6The Lord said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there has played the harlot. 7#Eze 16:46I said after she had done all these things, “Turn to Me.” But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8#Dt 24:1; Isa 50:1I saw that for all the adulteries of backsliding Israel, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. 9#Jer 2:27; Isa 57:6Through the lightness of her harlotry she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and with trees. 10#Hos 7:14Yet for all this, her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but feignedly, says the Lord.
God Invites Repentance
11#Eze 16:51–52; 23:11The Lord said to me: Backsliding Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12#Ps 86:15; Eze 33:11Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say:
Return, backsliding Israel, says the Lord,
and I will not cause My anger to fall on you.
For I am merciful, says the Lord,
and I will not keep anger forever.
13#Dt 12:2; 30:1–3 Only acknowledge your iniquity,
that you have transgressed against the Lord your God
and have scattered your ways to the strangers
under every green tree,
and you have not obeyed My voice,
says the Lord.
14#Isa 54:5; Jer 31:32Return, O backsliding sons, says the Lord. For I am married to you. And I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. 15#Ac 20:28; Jer 23:4And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16#Isa 65:17It shall come to pass when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days, says the Lord, they will say no more, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they call for it, nor will it be made any more. 17#Jer 11:8; 17:12At that time they will call Jerusalem, the Throne of the Lord, and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord; nor will they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil hearts. 18#Jer 31:8; 50:4In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given to your fathers for an inheritance.
19#Jer 3:4; Isa 63:16But I said:
How can I put you among My sons
and give you a pleasant land,
the most beautiful heritage of the nations?
And I said: You shall call Me, My Father,
and shall not turn away from Me.
20#Isa 48:8; Jer 5:11 Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband,
so you have dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel,
says the Lord.
21#Isa 15:2; 17:10 A voice was heard upon the high places,
the weeping and the supplications of the sons of Israel,
because they have perverted their way,
they have forgotten the Lord their God.
22#Hos 14:4 Return, O backsliding sons,
and I will heal your backslidings.
“We come to You;
for You are the Lord our God.
23#Ps 3:8; 121:1–2 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills,
and from the multitude of mountains.
Truly, in the Lord our God
is the salvation of Israel.
24#Hos 9:10 For shame has devoured the labor
of our fathers from our youth,
their flocks and their herds,
their sons and their daughters.
25#Jer 22:21 We lie down in our shame,
and our humiliation covers us.
For we have sinned against the Lord our God,
we and our fathers,
from our youth even to this day,
and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”
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