Jeremiah 3

1 Saying, 'Lo, one sendeth away his wife, And she hath gone from him, And she hath been to another man, Doth he turn back unto her again? Greatly defiled is not that land? And thou hast committed whoredom with many lovers, And turn again to Me, an affirmation of 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 thine eyes to the high places, and see, Where hast thou not been lain with? On the ways thou hast sat for them, As an Arab in a wilderness, And thou defilest the land, By thy fornications, and by 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 withheld are showers, and gathered rain hath not been. The forehead of a whorish woman thou hast, 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 Hast thou not henceforth called to Me, 'My father, Thou [art] the leader of my youth?

Have you not just now called to me: 'My father! My closest friend even from my youth!

5 Doth He keep to the age? watch for ever?' Lo, these things thou hast spoken, And thou dost the evil things, and prevailest.

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 And Jehovah saith unto me, in the days of Josiah the king, 'Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? She is going on every high mountain, and unto the place of every green tree, and committeth fornication there.

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 say, after her doing all these, Unto Me thou dost turn back, and she hath not turned back, and see [it] doth her treacherous sister Judah.

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 see when (for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery) I have sent her away, and I give the bill of her divorce unto her, that treacherous Judah her sister hath not feared, and goeth and committeth fornication — she also.

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 it hath come to pass, from the vileness of her fornication, that the land is defiled, and she committeth fornication with stone and with wood.

Her prostitution was nothing to her; she defiled the land, and she committed adultery with stones and trees.

10 And even in all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned back unto Me with all her heart, but with falsehood, an affirmation of 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 And Jehovah saith unto me: 'Justified herself hath backsliding Israel, More than treacherous Judah.

Then Yahweh said to me, “Faithless Israel has been more righteous than faithless Judah!

12 Go, and thou hast proclaimed these words toward the north, and hast said, Turn back, O backsliding Israel, An affirmation of Jehovah! I cause not Mine anger to fall upon you, For I [am] kind, an affirmation of Jehovah, I watch not to the age.

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, know thine iniquity, For against Jehovah thy God thou hast transgressed, And thou dost scatter thy ways to strangers, Under every green tree, And to My voice thou hast not hearkened, An affirmation of 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 Turn back, O backsliding sons, An affirmation of Jehovah. For I have ruled over you, And taken you one of a city, and two of a family, And have brought 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 have given to you shepherds According to Mine own heart, And they have fed you with knowledge and understanding.

I will give you shepherds after my heart, and they will shepherd you with knowledge and insight.

16 And it hath come to pass, when ye are multiplied, And have been fruitful in the land, In those days — an affirmation of Jehovah, They say not any more, 'The ark of the covenant of Jehovah,' Nor doth it go up on the heart, Nor do they remember concerning it, Nor do they inspect, nor is it made again.

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 At that time they cry to Jerusalem, 'O throne of Jehovah,' And gathered unto her hath been all the nations, For the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem, Nor do they go any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.

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 do the house of Judah Go unto the house of Israel, And they come together from the land of the south, unto the land That 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 And I have said, How do I put thee among the sons, And give to thee a desirable land, A beauteous inheritance of the hosts of nations, And I say, My father — ye do call to Me, And from after Me ye do not turn back.

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 But — a woman hath deceived her friend, So ye have dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel, an affirmation of Jehovah.

But like a woman faithless to her husband, you have betrayed me, house of Israel—this is Yahweh's declaration.”

21 A voice on high places is heard — weeping, Supplications of the sons of Israel, For they have made perverse 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 Turn back, O backsliding sons, I cause your backslidings to cease. — Behold us, we have 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 Surely in vain from the heights, The multitude of mountains — Surely in Jehovah our God [is] the salvation of Israel.

Surely lies come from the hills, a confusing noise from the mountains; surely Yahweh our God is the salvation of Israel.

24 And the shameful thing hath devoured The labour of our fathers from our youth, Their flock and their herd, 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 have lain down in our shame, and cover us doth our confusion, For against Jehovah our God we have sinned, We, and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, Nor have we hearkened to 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!”