Jeremiah 3

1 One could say, Behold, if a man send away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, can he return unto her again? would not that land be greatly polluted? and thou hast played the harlot with many companions, and wilt yet return to me, saith the Lord.

“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 up thy eyes unto the mountain-tops, and see where thou hast not been lain with. On public roads hast thou sat for them, as the Arab in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy incests and with thy wickedness.

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 And [though] the early showers were withholden, and the latter rain came not: yet hadst thou a forehead of an incestuous wife, thou refusedst to feel shame.

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 Wilt thou not from this time call out unto mem My father, the guide of my youth art thou?

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

5 Will he bear grudge for ever? will he keep it to eternity? Behold, thou hast spoken [this], and yet hast done the things that are evil as much as thou wast able.

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 the Lord said unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen what backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and hath played the harlot there.

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 I thought that after she had done all these things, she would return unto me. But she returned not. And this saw her treacherous sister Judah.

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 And I saw, that, although because backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had sent her away, and given her bill of divorce unto her, still treacherous Judah her sister feared not, but went and played herself the harlot also.

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 it came to pass through her giddy incest, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stone and with wood.

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

10 And yet with all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto me with all her heart, but with falsehood, saith the Lord.

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 unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself through the treacherous Judah.

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 say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord: I will not cause my anger to fall upon you; for I am full of kindness, saith the Lord, I will not hear grudge for ever.

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 Only acknowledge thy iniquity, that against the Lord thy God thou hast rebelled, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and that unto my voice ye have not hearkened, saith the Lord.

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 Return, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am become your husband; and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and bring you to Zion:

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 shepherds after my own heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and intelligence.

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

16 And it shall come to pass, when ye multiply and increase in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, that men shall not say any more, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord;” nor shall it come any more to mind; nor shall they remember it; nor shall they mention it; nor shall any thing be done any more [with it].

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 At that time shall they call Jerusalem, The throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: and they shall not walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.

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 shall the house of Judah walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north unto the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.

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 had thought, How shall I establish thee among the [other] sons [of man], and give thee a desirable land, a heritage of glory of the hosts of nations? and I thought, My father thou wouldst call me, and that from me thou wouldst not turn away.

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 truly as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.

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 is now heard upon the mountain-tops, the supplicatory weeping of the children of Israel; for they have perverted their way, they have forgotten the Lord their God.

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 Return, ye backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings. “Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God.

“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 deceptive was [what we hoped for] from the hills, and the multitude on the mountains; truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.

Truly, the hills were liars, with the multitude of the mountains. Truly, the salvation of Israel is in the Lord our God.

24 And shame hath devoured the acquisition of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

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 lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us; for against the Lord our God have we sinned, we and our fathers, from our youth even until this day; and we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God.”

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.”