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.

They say, If a man put away his wife, and she goe from him, and become another mans, shall hee returne againe vnto her? shall not this land be polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many louers: yet turne againe to mee, sayeth 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.

Lift vp thine eyes vnto the hie places, and beholde, where thou hast not plaied the harlot: thou hast sit waiting for them in the waies, as the Arabian in the wildernesse: and thou hast polluted the lande with thy whoredomes, and with thy malice.

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.

Therefore the showres haue beene restrained, and the latter raine came not, and thou haddest a whores forehead: thou wouldest not bee ashamed.

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

Diddest thou not stil crie vnto me, Thou art my father, and the guide of my youth?

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.

Wil he keepe his anger for euer? will he reserue it to the ende? thus hast thou spoken, but thou doest euill, euen more and more.

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.

The Lord saide also vnto me, in the daies of Iosiah the King, Hast thou seene what this rebell Israel hath done? for she hath gone vp vpon euery high mountaine, and vnder euery greene tree, and there plaied the harlot.

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.

And I sayde, when shee had done all this, Turne thou vnto me: but she returned not, as her rebellious sister Iudah sawe.

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.

When I sawe, howe that by all occasions rebellious Israel had plaied the harlot, I cast her away, and gaue her a bill of diuorcement: yet her rebellious sister Iudah was not afraied, but shee went also, and plaied the harlot.

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

So that for the lightnesse of her whoredome shee hath euen defiled the lande: for shee hath committed fornication with stones and stockes.

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.

Neuerthelesse for all this, her rebellious sister Iudah hath not returned vnto mee with her whole heart, but fainedly, sayth the Lord.

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

And the Lord said vnto me, The rebellious Israel hath iustified her selfe more then the rebellious Iudah.

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.

Goe and crie these woordes towarde the North and say, Thou disobedient Israel, returne, sayeth the Lord, and I will not let my wrath fall vpon you: for I am mercifull, sayeth the Lord, and I will not alway keepe mine anger.

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.

But knowe thine iniquitie: for thou hast rebelled against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy waies to the straunge gods vnder euery greene tree, but yee woulde not obey my voyce, sayeth 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;

O yee disobedient children, turne againe, sayeth the Lord, for I am your Lord, and I will take you one of a citie, and two of a tribe and wil 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.

And I will giue you pastours according to mine heart, which shall feede you with knowledge and vnderstanding.

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.

Moreouer, when yee be increased and multiplied in the land, in those daies, saieth the Lord, they shall say no more, The Arke of the couenant of the Lord: for it shall come no more to minde, neither shall they remember it, neither shall they visite it, for that shalbe no more done.

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.

At that time they shall cal Ierusalem, The throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered vnto it, euen to the Name of the Lord in Ierusalem: and thence foorth they shall follow no more the hardnesse of their wicked heart.

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.

In those daies ye house of Iudah shall walke with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the lande of the North, into the lande, that I haue giuen for an inheritance vnto your fathers.

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.

But I sayde, Howe did I take thee for children and giue thee a pleasant lande, euen the glorious heritage of the armies of the heathen, and saide, Thou shalt call mee, saying, My father, and shalt not turne from me?

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

But as a woman rebelleth against her husband: so haue yee rebelled against me, O house of Israel, sayeth 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.

A voice was heard vpon the hie places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they haue peruerted their way, 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.

O yee disobedient children, returne and I wil heale your rebellions. Behold, we come vnto thee, for thou art 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.

Truely the hope of the hilles is but vaine, nor the multitude of mountaines: but in the Lord our God is the health of Israel.

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.

For confusion hath deuoured our fathers labour, from our youth their sheepe and their bullocks, their sonnes and their 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.

Wee lie downe in our confusion, and our shame couereth vs: for we haue sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers from our youth, euen vnto this day, and haue not obeyed the voyce of the Lord our God.