Jeremiah 3
1 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?
“If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man's wife, will he return to her again? Would that land not be greatly polluted? You have lived as a prostitute who has many lovers; and would you return to me?—this is Yahweh's declaration.
2 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.
Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and look! Is there any place where you have not had illicit sex? By the roadsides you sat waiting for your lovers, as an Arab in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
3 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.
So the showers have been withheld and the spring rains have not come; yet you have the forehead of a prostitute; you refuse to be ashamed.
4 Wilt thou not from this time cry to me, Thou art my father, Yea, the friend of my youth art thou?
Have you not just now called to me: 'My father! My closest friend even from my youth!
5 Will he retain his anger forever? Will he keep it forevermore? Behold, thus dost thou speak, But thou doest evil with all thy might.
Will he always be angry? Will he always keep his wrath to the end?' Look! This is what you have said, but you do all the evil you can!”
6 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.
Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Do you see what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up every high hill and under every leafy tree, and there she has acted like a prostitute.
7 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.
I said, 'After she does all these things, she will return to me,' but she did not return. Then her faithless sister Judah saw these things.
8 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.
So I saw that, in the same way that faithless Israel had committed adultery and I had sent her away and had given a bill of divorce against her, her faithless sister Judah did not fear; she also went out and acted like a prostitute.
9 And when by the fame of her lewdness she had polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and wood,
Her prostitution was nothing to her; she defiled the land, and she committed adultery with stones and trees.
10 yet for all this did not her faithless sister Judah return to me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith Jehovah.
Then after all of this, her faithless sister Judah returned to me, not with all her heart, but with a lie—this is Yahweh's declaration.”
11 Then said Jehovah to me, Rebellious Israel is less guilty than faithless Judah.
Then Yahweh said to me, “Faithless Israel has been more righteous than faithless Judah!
12 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.
Go and proclaim these words to the north. Say, 'Return, faithless Israel!—this is Yahweh's declaration—I will not always be angry with you. Since I am faithful—this is Yahweh's declaration—I will not stay angry forever.
13 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.
Acknowledge your iniquity, for you have transgressed against Yahweh your God; you have shared your ways with strangers under every leafy tree! For you have not listened to my voice!—this is Yahweh's declaration.
14 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.
Return, faithless people!—this is Yawheh's declaration—I am your husband! I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion!
15 And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, Who shall feed you with wisdom and discretion.
I will give you shepherds after my heart, and they will shepherd you with knowledge and insight.
16 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.
Then it will happen that you will increase and bear fruit in the land in those days—this is Yahweh's declaration-they will no longer say, “The ark of the covenant of Yahweh!” This matter will no longer come up in their hearts or be remembered; it will not be missed, and another one will not be made.'
17 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.
In that time they will proclaim about Jerusalem, 'This is Yahweh's throne,' and all the other nations will gather at Jerusalem in Yahweh's name. They will no longer walk in the stubbornness of their wicked hearts.
18 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.
In those days, the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel. They will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.
19 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.
As for me, I said, 'How I want to treat you as my son and give you a pleasant land, an inheritance more beautiful than what is in any other nation!' I would have said, 'You will call me “my father”.' I would have said that you would not turn from following me.
20 Yet as a woman is faithless to her husband, So have ye been faithless to me, O house of Israel! saith Jehovah.
But like a woman faithless to her husband, you have betrayed me, house of Israel—this is Yahweh's declaration.”
21 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.
A voice is heard on the plains, the weeping and pleading of the people of Israel! For they have changed their ways; they have forgotten Yahweh their God.
22 Return, O revolted children! I will heal your rebellion. Behold, we come to thee, For thou art Jehovah our God!
“Return, faithless people! I will heal you of treachery!” “Behold! We will come to you, for you are Yahweh our God!
23 Truly in vain from the hills, In vain from the mountains do we seek abundance; Only from Jehovah our God cometh salvation for Israel.
Surely lies come from the hills, a confusing noise from the mountains; surely Yahweh our God is the salvation of Israel.
24 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.
Yet shameful idols have consumed what our ancestors have worked for— their flocks and cattle, their sons and daughters!
25 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.
Let us lie down in shame. May our shame cover us, for we have sinned against Yahweh our God! We ourselves and our ancestors, from the time of our youthfulness to this present day, have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God!”
