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
1If#3.1 Q Ms Gk Syr: MT Saying, If a man divorces his wife
and she goes from him
and becomes another man's wife,
will he return to her?
Would not such a land be greatly polluted?
You have played the whore with many lovers;
and would you return to me?
says the Lord.
2Look up to the bare heights,#3.2 Or the trails and see!
Where have you not been lain with?
By the waysides you have sat waiting for lovers,
like a nomad in the wilderness.
You have polluted the land
with your whoring and wickedness.
3Therefore the showers have been withheld,
and the spring rain has not come;
yet you have the forehead of a whore,
you refuse to be ashamed.
4Have you not just now called to me,
“My Father, you are the friend of my youth—
5will he be angry forever,
will he be indignant to the end?”
This is how you have spoken,
but you have done all the evil that you could.
A Call to Repentance
6The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and played the whore there? 7And I thought, “After she has done all this she will return to me”; but she did not return, and her false sister Judah saw it. 8She#3.8 Q Ms Gk Mss Syr: MT I saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce; yet her false sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. 9Because she took her whoredom so lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. 10Yet for all this her false sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense, says the Lord.
11Then the Lord said to me: Faithless Israel has shown herself less guilty than false Judah. 12Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say:
Return, faithless Israel,
says the Lord.
I will not look on you in anger,
for I am merciful,
says the Lord;
I will not be angry forever.
13Only acknowledge your guilt,
that you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
and scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree,
and have not obeyed my voice,
says the Lord.
14Return, O faithless children,
says the Lord,
for I am your master;
I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,
and I will bring you to Zion.
15I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall no longer say, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” It shall not come to mind, or be remembered, or missed; nor shall another one be made. 17At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no longer stubbornly follow their own evil will. 18In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your ancestors for a heritage.
19I thought
how I would set you among my children,
and give you a pleasant land,
the most beautiful heritage of all the nations.
And I thought you would call me, My Father,
and would not turn from following me.
20Instead, as a faithless wife leaves her husband,
so you have been faithless to me, O house of Israel,
says the Lord.
21A voice on the bare heights#3.21 Or the trails is heard,
the plaintive weeping of Israel's children,
because they have perverted their way,
they have forgotten the Lord their God:
22Return, O faithless children,
I will heal your faithlessness.
“Here we come to you;
for you are the Lord our God.
23Truly the hills are#3.23 Gk Syr Vg: Heb Truly from the hills is a delusion,
the orgies on the mountains.
Truly in the Lord our God
is the salvation of Israel.
24“But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our ancestors had labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our ancestors, from our youth even to this day; and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”
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New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.