Jeremiah 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.

It is said, if a man put away his wife, And she go from him, and become another man's, Shall he return to her again? Shall not that land be polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; And shalt thou return to me, saith Jehovah?

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.

Lift up thine eyes to the high places, and see! Where hast thou not been defiled? In the ways hast thou sat waiting, As the Arabian in the desert, And hast polluted the land by thy lewdness and thy 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.

And although the showers have been withholden, And there hath been no latter rain, Yet thou hast had a harlot's forehead; Thou hast refused to be ashamed.

4 Therefore, at least from this moment on, call out to me: ‘You are my father, the guide of my virginity.’

Wilt thou not from this time cry to me, Thou art my father, Yea, the friend of my youth art thou?

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.”

Will he retain his anger forever? Will he keep it forevermore? Behold, thus dost thou speak, But thou doest evil with all thy might.

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.

Jehovah said to me, in the time of King Josiah, Hast thou heard what rebellious Israel hath done? She hath gone upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.

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:

And I said, after she had done all these things, Return thou to me! But she returned not. And her faithless sister Judah saw it.

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.

And I saw, when, for all the adulteries which rebellious Israel had committed, I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce, that her faithless sister Judah was not afraid, but went and played the harlot also herself.

9 And by the act of her fornication, she defiled the land. For she committed adultery with that which is stone and wood.

And when by the fame of her lewdness she had polluted the land, committing adultery with 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.”

yet for all this did not her faithless sister Judah return to me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith Jehovah.

11 And the Lord said to me: “The apostate Israel has justified her own soul by comparing herself to the deceitful Judah.

Then said Jehovah to me, Rebellious Israel is less guilty than faithless 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.

Go and proclaim these words toward the north: —Return, O rebellious Israel, saith Jehovah! I will not turn a frowning face upon you; For I am merciful, saith Jehovah, I retain not anger 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.

Only acknowledge thine iniquity, That thou hast rebelled against Jehovah thy God, And hast roved about to strangers Under every green tree, And hast not obeyed my voice, saith Jehovah.

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.

Return, ye rebellious children! saith Jehovah; Though I have rejected you, Yet will I receive you again, One from a city, and two from a nation, And I will bring you to Zion.

15 And I will give you pastors according to my own heart. And they will feed you with knowledge and doctrine.

And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, Who shall feed you with wisdom and discretion.

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.

And when ye shall have multiplied and increased in the land, saith Jehovah, Then shall ye no more speak of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, Nor shall it come into your mind. None shall remember it; None shall care for it; It shall not be made any more.

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.

For then shall Jerusalem be called the throne of Jehovah, And all the nations shall resort to it; They shall resort to Jehovah, to Jerusalem, And shall no more walk after the perverseness of their evil hearts.

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.

In those days shall the house of Judah unite themselves with the house of Israel, And they shall come together from the north country, To the land which I caused your fathers to inherit.

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.

Then I said, how will I place thee among my children, And give thee a pleasant land, A goodly inheritance among the hosts of nations! And I said, Thou wilt call me thy father; Thou wilt not turn aside from following 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.”

Yet as a woman is faithless to her husband, So have ye been faithless to me, O house of Israel! saith Jehovah.

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.

A voice is heard upon the hills, The weeping and supplications of the children of Israel! For they have perverted their way; They have forgotten Jehovah 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!

Return, O revolted children! I will heal your rebellion. Behold, we come to thee, For thou art Jehovah 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.

Truly in vain from the hills, In vain from the mountains do we seek abundance; Only from Jehovah our God cometh salvation for Israel.

24 Confusion has devoured the labor of our fathers, from our youth, with their flocks and their herds, with their sons and their daughters.

For the things of shame have devoured the substance of our fathers from our youth, Their sheep and their oxen, 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.”

We lie down in our shame, And our ignominy covereth us; For we have sinned against Jehovah our God, We and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, And have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God.