Jeremiah 3
1 He hath said, If a man send away his wife, and she go from him and become another man’s, will he return unto her, again? would not that land be, utterly defiled? And, thou, hast been unchaste with many neighbours, and yet [thinkest] to return unto me! Declareth Yahweh.
If a man divorces his wife and she goes and marries someone else, could he ever go back to her? Wouldn't the country be made totally unclean by this? But you have done worse by prostituting yourselves with many lovers, and now you want to come back to me? declares the Lord.
2 Lift up thine eyes unto the bare heights and see—where thou hast not been unchastely embraced! beside the ways, hast thou sat to them, like the Arabian in the desert, —and hast defiled the land with thine unchastities, and with thy wickedness.
Look up at the bare hilltops. Is there anywhere that you haven't had sex? You sat at the roadside like someone from the desert waiting for your lovers to pass by. You have made the land unclean with your prostitution and evil.
3 Therefore have been withholden the showers, And, the latter rain, hath not come, —Yet the forehead of an unchaste woman, hast thou, Thou hast refused to be ashamed.
That's why no showers have been sent, and no spring rains have fallen. But you just stare back shamelessly like a prostitute; you refuse to accept you've done anything wrong.
4 Hast thou not from this time, cried unto me, My father! the friend of my youth, art, thou?
Didn't you just tell me, “My father, you've been such a close friend to me since I was little.
5 Will he maintain his anger to times age-abiding? Will he keep it perpetually? Lo! thou hast spoken thus but hast done wicked things and had thy way!
You won't be angry with me for a long time, will you? You won't go on being like that forever?” This is what you've said, but you keep on sinning as much as you can.
6 And Yahweh said unto me, in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen what apostate Israel, did? She used to go upon every high mountain and beneath every green tree, and commit unchastity there.
During the reign of King Josiah, the Lord told me, Have you seen what unfaithful Israel has done? She has prostituted herself on every high hill and under every green tree.
7 And I said, after she had been doing all these things, Unto me, shall thou return? and she returned not, —and her treacherous sister Judah saw it!
I hoped that after she'd done all this she'd come back to me. But she didn't come back, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw what happened.
8 Though she saw that for all this, apostate Israel having committed adultery, I had sent her away, and had given a scroll of divorcement unto her, yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but, she also, went and committed unchastity.
She saw that because of everything unfaithful Israel had done on committing adultery, I sent her away, giving her a certificate of divorce. But her unfaithful sister Judah wasn't afraid and prostituted herself too.
9 Yea though it had come to pass that through the levity of her unchastity, she had defiled the land, —and committed adultery with Stone and with Tree,
Israel didn't care about the immorality, as she made herself and the land unclean, committing adultery by worshiping stones and trees.
10 yet, in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah returned not unto me, with all her heart, —but, falsely, Declareth Yahweh.
Despite all this, her unfaithful sister Judah didn't come back to me in sincerity. She only pretended to do so, declares the Lord.
11 Then said Yahweh unto me, —Apostate Israel, hath justified herself, —more than treacherous Judah.
The Lord told me, Unfaithful Israel showed that she wasn't as guilty as unfaithful Judah.
12 Go, and proclaim these words, towards the North and say—Return! thou apostate—Israel, Urgeth Yahweh, I will not lower my face against you, —for full of lovingkindness, I am, Declareth Yahweh, I will not maintain [mine anger] unto times age-abiding.
Now go and announce this message to the north: Come back, unfaithful Israel, declares the Lord. I won't be angry with you anymore, because I am merciful, declares the Lord. I won't be angry forever.
13 Only, acknowledge thine iniquity, that against Yahweh thy God, hast thou transgressed, —and hast gone hither and thither unto foreigners under every green tree, and unto my voice, ye have not hearkened Declareth Yahweh.
Just admit you did wrong, that you rebelled against the Lord your God. You spread yourself around, committing adultery by worshiping foreign gods under every green tree, refusing to do what I told you, declares the Lord.
14 Return, ye apostate sons, Urgeth Yahweh, for, I, am become your husband, —therefore will I take you one of a city, and two of a family, and will bring you to Zion;
Come back, unfaithful children, declares the Lord, because I am married to you. I will take you, one from a town and two from a family, and bring you to Zion.
15 and will give you shepherds according to mine own heart, —who will feed you with knowledge and discretion.
I will give you shepherds who are like me who will feed you wisely and with understanding.
16 And it shall come to pass when ye shall be multiplied and become fruitful in the land, in those days, Declareth Yahweh, They shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of Yahweh, Neither shall it come up on the heart, Neither shall they remember it, Neither shall they miss it, Neither shall it be made any more.
At that time as you increase in number in the country, declares the Lord, no one will be talking about the Ark of the Lord's Agreement anymore. People won't need to think about it or remember it or wonder what happened to it; and certainly won't need to make a new one.
17 At that time, shall they call Jerusalem, The throne of Yahweh, and there shall be gathered unto her all the nations—to the Name of Yahweh, to Jerusalem; and they shall walk no more after the stubbornness of their own wicked heart.
When that time comes Jerusalem will be called the Throne of the Lord, and all the nations will come together in Jerusalem to honor the Lord. They won't be stubborn or wicked anymore.
18 In those days, shall the house of Judah go unto the house of Israel, —that they may enter together out of the land of the North, upon the land which I gave as an inheritance unto your fathers.
At that time the people of Judah will join with the people of Israel, and they will return from the land of the north to the country I gave to your forefathers to own.
19 Though, I myself, had said, —How can I put thee among the sons, And give thee a land to be coveted, An inheritance of beauty, of the hosts of nations? Yet I said, My father, shalt thou call me, And away from me, shalt thou not turn.
I said to myself, I really want you to be my children, and to give you the best country, the most beautiful place of any nation. I hoped you would call me “Father,” and never give up following me.
20 But indeed [as] a wife goeth treacherously from her husband, so, have ye acted treacherously with me, O house of Israel, Declareth Yahweh.
But just like a wife might betray her husband, you have betrayed me, people of Israel, declares the Lord.
21 A voice on the bare heights, is heard, The weeping of the supplications of the sons of Israel, —Because they have perverted their way, Have forgotten Yahweh their God.
Voices are crying on bare hilltops—the Israelites weeping and pleading for mercy, because they have gone astray and forgotten the Lord their God.
22 Return ye apostate sons, I will heal your apostasies! Behold us! we have come unto thee, For thou, art Yahweh our God.
Come back, unfaithful children, and I will heal your unfaithfulness. “We're here! Yes, we're coming back to you, because you are the Lord our God.”
23 Surely, to falsehood, pertain the hills The noisy throng on the mountains, —Surely, in Yahweh our God, is the salvation of Israel!
There's no doubt that pagan worship from the hills is pure lies; the idolatry that comes from the mountains is just noise. Israel's salvation is in the Lord our God alone.
24 But, the Shameful thing, hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth: Their flocks, and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
All our lives pagan idolatry has destroyed what our fathers worked so hard for: their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.
25 We must lie down in our shame And our reproach, be our covering, For, against Yahweh our God, have we sinned, We and our fathers, from our youth even until this day, —Neither have we hearkened unto the voice of Yahweh our God.
We should lie down in shame, and have our disgrace bury us. We have sinned against the Lord our God, us and our fathers. From when we were young right up to now we have not obeyed what the Lord our God told us to do.
