Jeremiah 3

1 They say, If a man puts away his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man's, will he go back to her again? will not that land have been made unclean? but though you have been acting like a loose woman with a number of lovers, will you now come back to me? says the Lord.

If a man divorces his wife and she goes and marries someone else, could he ever go back to her? Wouldn't the country be made totally unclean by this? But you have done worse by prostituting yourselves with many lovers, and now you want to come back to me? declares the Lord.

2 Let your eyes be lifted up to the open hilltops, and see; where have you not been taken by your lovers? You have been seated waiting for them by the wayside like an Arabian in the waste land; you have made the land unclean with your loose ways and your evil-doing.

Look up at the bare hilltops. Is there anywhere that you haven't had sex? You sat at the roadside like someone from the desert waiting for your lovers to pass by. You have made the land unclean with your prostitution and evil.

3 So the showers have been kept back, and there has been no spring rain; still your brow is the brow of a loose woman, you will not let yourself be shamed.

That's why no showers have been sent, and no spring rains have fallen. But you just stare back shamelessly like a prostitute; you refuse to accept you've done anything wrong.

4 Will you not, from this time, make your prayer to me, crying, My father, you are the friend of my early years?

Didn't you just tell me, “My father, you've been such a close friend to me since I was little.

5 Will he be angry for ever? will he keep his wrath to the end? These things you have said, and have done evil and have had your way.

You won't be angry with me for a long time, will you? You won't go on being like that forever?” This is what you've said, but you keep on sinning as much as you can.

6 And the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen what Israel, turning away from me, has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every branching tree, acting like a loose woman there.

During the reign of King Josiah, the Lord told me, Have you seen what unfaithful Israel has done? She has prostituted herself on every high hill and under every green tree.

7 And I said, After she has done all these things she will come back to me; but she did not. And her false sister Judah saw it.

I hoped that after she'd done all this she'd come back to me. But she didn't come back, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw what happened.

8 And though she saw that, because Israel, turning away from me, had been untrue to me, I had put her away and given her a statement in writing ending the relation between us, still Judah, her false sister, had no fear, but went and did the same.

She saw that because of everything unfaithful Israel had done on committing adultery, I sent her away, giving her a certificate of divorce. But her unfaithful sister Judah wasn't afraid and prostituted herself too.

9 So that through all her loose behaviour the land became unclean, and she was untrue, giving herself to stones and trees.

Israel didn't care about the immorality, as she made herself and the land unclean, committing adultery by worshiping stones and trees.

10 But for all this, her false sister Judah has not come back to me with all her heart, but with deceit, says the Lord.

Despite all this, her unfaithful sister Judah didn't come back to me in sincerity. She only pretended to do so, declares the Lord.

11 And the Lord said to me, Israel in her turning away is seen to be more upright than false Judah.

The Lord told me, Unfaithful Israel showed that she wasn't as guilty as unfaithful Judah.

12 Go, and give out these words to the north, and say, Come back, O Israel, though you have been turned away from me, says the Lord; my face will not be against you in wrath: for I am full of mercy, says the Lord, I will not be angry for ever.

Now go and announce this message to the north: Come back, unfaithful Israel, declares the Lord. I won't be angry with you anymore, because I am merciful, declares the Lord. I won't be angry forever.

13 Only be conscious of your sin, the evil you have done against the Lord your God; you have gone with strange men under every branching tree, giving no attention to my voice, says the Lord.

Just admit you did wrong, that you rebelled against the Lord your God. You spread yourself around, committing adultery by worshiping foreign gods under every green tree, refusing to do what I told you, declares the Lord.

14 Come back, O children who are turned away, says the Lord; for I am a husband to you, and I will take you, one from a town and two from a family, and will make you come to Zion;

Come back, unfaithful children, declares the Lord, because I am married to you. I will take you, one from a town and two from a family, and bring you to Zion.

15 And I will give you keepers, pleasing to my heart, who will give you your food with knowledge and wisdom.

I will give you shepherds who are like me who will feed you wisely and with understanding.

16 And it will come about, when your numbers are increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, that they will no longer say, The ark of the agreement of the Lord: it will not come into their minds, they will not have any memory of it, or be conscious of the loss of it, and it will not be made again.

At that time as you increase in number in the country, declares the Lord, no one will be talking about the Ark of the Lord's Agreement anymore. People won't need to think about it or remember it or wonder what happened to it; and certainly won't need to make a new one.

17 At that time Jerusalem will be named the seat of the Lord's kingdom; and all the nations will come together to it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: and no longer will their steps be guided by the purposes of their evil hearts.

When that time comes Jerusalem will be called the Throne of the Lord, and all the nations will come together in Jerusalem to honor the Lord. They won't be stubborn or wicked anymore.

18 In those days the family of Judah will go with the family of Israel, and they will come together out of the land of the north into the land which I gave for a heritage to your fathers.

At that time the people of Judah will join with the people of Israel, and they will return from the land of the north to the country I gave to your forefathers to own.

19 But I said, How am I to put you among the children, and give you a desired land, a heritage of glory among the armies of the nations? and I said, You are to say to me, My father; and not be turned away from me.

I said to myself, I really want you to be my children, and to give you the best country, the most beautiful place of any nation. I hoped you would call me “Father,” and never give up following me.

20 Truly, as a wife is false to her husband, so have you been false to me, O Israel, says the Lord.

But just like a wife might betray her husband, you have betrayed me, people of Israel, declares the Lord.

21 A voice is sounding on the open hilltops, the weeping and the prayers of the children of Israel; because their way is twisted, they have not kept the Lord their God in mind.

Voices are crying on bare hilltops—the Israelites weeping and pleading for mercy, because they have gone astray and forgotten the Lord their God.

22 Come back, you children who have been turned away, and I will take away your desire for wandering. See, we have come to you, for you are the Lord our God.

Come back, unfaithful children, and I will heal your unfaithfulness. “We're here! Yes, we're coming back to you, because you are the Lord our God.”

23 Truly, the hills, and the noise of an army on the mountains, are a false hope: truly, in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.

There's no doubt that pagan worship from the hills is pure lies; the idolatry that comes from the mountains is just noise. Israel's salvation is in the Lord our God alone.

24 But the Baal has taken all the work of our fathers from our earliest days; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

All our lives pagan idolatry has destroyed what our fathers worked so hard for: their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.

25 Let us be stretched on the earth in our downfall, covering ourselves with our shame: for we have been sinners against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our earliest years even till this day: and we have not given ear to the voice of the Lord our God.

We should lie down in shame, and have our disgrace bury us. We have sinned against the Lord our God, us and our fathers. From when we were young right up to now we have not obeyed what the Lord our God told us to do.