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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Jeremiah 3: LEB
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Jeremiah 3
3
Unfaithful Israel
1The LORD says, “If a man divorces his wife, and she leaves him and becomes another man's wife, he cannot take her back again. This would completely defile the land. But, Israel, you have had many lovers, and now you want to return to me! 2Look up at the hilltops. Is there any place where you have not acted like a prostitute? You waited for lovers along the roadside, as an Arab waits for victims in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution. 3That is why the rains were held back, and the spring showers did not come. You even look like a prostitute; you have no shame.
4“And now you say to me, ‘You are my father, and you have loved me ever since I was a child. 5You won't always be angry; you won't be cross with me for ever.’ Israel, that is what you said, but you did all the evil you could.”
Israel and Judah must Repent
6 #
2 Kgs 22.1—23.30; 2 Chr 34.1—35.27 When Josiah was king, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what Israel, that unfaithful woman, has done? She has turned away from me, and on every high hill and under every green tree she has acted like a prostitute. 7I thought that after she had done all this, she would surely return to me. But she did not return, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it all. 8Judah also saw that I divorced Israel and sent her away because she had turned from me and had become a prostitute. But Judah, Israel's unfaithful sister, was not afraid. She too became a prostitute 9and was not at all ashamed. She defiled the land, and she committed adultery by worshipping stones and trees. 10And after all this, Judah, Israel's unfaithful sister, only pretended to return to me; she was not sincere. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
11Then the LORD told me that, even though Israel had turned away from him, she had proved to be better than unfaithful Judah. 12He told me to go and say to Israel, “Unfaithful Israel, come back to me. I am merciful and will not be angry; I will not be angry with you for ever. 13Only admit that you are guilty and that you have rebelled against the LORD, your God. Confess that under every green tree you have given your love to foreign gods and that you have not obeyed my commands. I, the LORD, have spoken.
14“Unfaithful people, come back; you belong to me. I will take one of you from each town and two from each clan, and I will bring you back to Mount Zion. 15I will give you rulers who obey me, and they will rule you with wisdom and understanding. 16Then when you have become numerous in that land, people will no longer talk about my Covenant Box. They will no longer think about it or remember it; they will not even need it, nor will they make another one. 17When that time comes, Jerusalem will be called ‘The Throne of the LORD’, and all nations will gather there to worship me. They will no longer do what their stubborn and evil hearts tell them. 18Israel will join with Judah, and together they will come from exile in the country in the north and will return to the land that I gave your ancestors as a permanent possession.”
The Idolatry of God's People
19The LORD says,
“Israel, I wanted to accept you as my child
and give you a delightful land,
the most beautiful land in all the world.
I wanted you to call me father,
and never again turn away from me.
20But like an unfaithful wife,
you have not been faithful to me.
I, the LORD, have spoken.”
21A noise is heard on the hilltops:
it is the people of Israel crying and pleading,
because they have lived sinful lives
and have forgotten the LORD their God.
22Return, all of you who have turned away from the LORD;
he will heal you and make you faithful.
You say, “Yes, we are coming to the LORD, because he is our God. 23We were not helped at all by our pagan worship on the hilltops. Help for Israel comes only from the LORD our God. 24But the worship of Baal, the god of shame, has made us lose flocks and herds, sons and daughters — everything that our ancestors have worked for since ancient times. 25We should lie down in shame and let our disgrace cover us. We and our ancestors have always sinned against the LORD our God; we have never obeyed his commands.”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.