Jeremiah 3

1 “Saying, Behold, one sends his wife away, And she has gone from him, And she has been to another man, Does he return to her again? Is that land not greatly defiled? And you have committed whoredom with many lovers, And turn to Me again,” A declaration of YHWH.

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.

2 “Lift your eyes to the high places, and see, Where have you not been lain with? You have sat for them on the ways, As an Arab in a wilderness, And you defile the land, By your fornications, and by your wickedness.

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.

3 And showers are withheld, and there has been no spring rain. You have the forehead of a whorish woman, You have refused to be ashamed.

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.

4 Have you not from now on called to Me, My Father, You [are] the leader of my youth?

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

5 Does He keep for all time? Watch forever? Behold, you have spoken these things, And you do evil, and prevail.”

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.

6 And YHWH says to me, in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She is going on every high mountain, and to the place of every green tree, and commits fornication there.

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.

7 And I say, after her doing all these, Return to Me, and she has not returned, and her treacherous sister Judah sees it.

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.

8 And I see that for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery, I have sent her away, and I give the bill of her divorce to her; and her treacherous sister Judah has not feared, and goes and commits fornication—she also.

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.

9 And it has come to pass, from the vileness of her fornication, that the land is defiled, and she commits fornication with stone and with wood.

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

10 And even in all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned back to Me with all her heart, but with falsehood,” a declaration of YHWH.

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

11 And YHWH says to me: “Backsliding Israel has justified herself, More than treacherous Judah.

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

12 Go, and you have proclaimed these words toward the north, and have said, Return, O backsliding Israel,” A declaration of YHWH! “I do not cause My anger to fall on you, for I [am] kind,” A declaration of YHWH, “I do not watch for all time.

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.

13 Only, know your iniquity, For you have transgressed against your God YHWH, And you scatter your ways to strangers, Under every green tree, And you have not listened to My voice,” A declaration of YHWH.

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.

14 “Return, O backsliding sons,” A declaration of YHWH. “For I have ruled over you, And taken you—one from a city, and two from a family, And have brought you to Zion,

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;

15 And I have given shepherds to you According to My own heart, And they have fed you with knowledge and understanding.

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

16 And it has come to pass, when you are multiplied, And have been fruitful in the land, In those days,” A declaration of YHWH, “They no longer say, The Ark of the Covenant of YHWH, Nor does it go up on the heart, Nor do they remember concerning it, Nor do they inspect, nor is it made again.

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.

17 At that time they cry to Jerusalem, O throne of YHWH, And all the nations have been gathered to her, For the Name of YHWH, to Jerusalem, Nor do they go after the stubbornness of their evil heart anymore.

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.

18 In those days the house of Judah Goes to the house of Israel, And they come together from the land of the south, To the land that I caused your fathers to inherit.

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.

19 And I have said, How do I put you among the sons, And give a desirable land to you, A beautiful inheritance of the hosts of nations, And I say, You call Me—My Father, And you do not turn back from after Me.

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.

20 But a woman has deceived her friend, So you have dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel,” A declaration of YHWH.

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

21 A voice is heard on high places—weeping, Supplications of the sons of Israel, For they have made their way perverse, They have forgotten their God YHWH.

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.

22 “Return, O backsliding sons, I cause your backslidings to cease.” “Behold us, we have come to You, For You [are] our God YHWH.

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.

23 Surely in vain—from the heights, The multitude of mountains—Surely the salvation of Israel [is] in our God YHWH.

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.

24 And the shameful thing has devoured The labor of our fathers from our youth, Their flock and their herd, Their sons and their daughters.

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.

25 We have lain down in our shame, and our confusion covers us, For we have sinned against our God YHWH, We, and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, Nor have we listened to the voice of our God YHWH!”

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.