Jeremiah 3

Your Sex-and-Religion Obsessions

1 God's Message came to me as follows: "If a man's wife walks out on him And marries another man, can he take her back as if nothing had happened? Wouldn't that raise a huge stink in the land? And isn't that what you've done— 'whored' your way with god after god? And now you want to come back as if nothing had happened." God's Decree.

2-5 "Look around at the hills. Where have you not had sex? You've camped out like hunters stalking deer. You've solicited many lover-gods, Like a streetwalking whore chasing after other gods. And so the rain has stopped. No more rain from the skies! But it doesn't even faze you. Brazen as whores, you carry on as if you've done nothing wrong. Then you have the nerve to call out, 'My father! You took care of me when I was a child. Why not now? Are you going to keep up your anger nonstop?' That's your line. Meanwhile you keep sinning nonstop."

Admit Your God-Defiance

6-10 God spoke to me during the reign of King Josiah: "You have noticed, haven't you, how fickle Israel has visited every hill and grove of trees as a whore at large? I assumed that after she had gotten it out of her system, she'd come back, but she didn't. Her flighty sister, Judah, saw what she did. She also saw that because of fickle Israel's loose morals I threw her out, gave her her walking papers. But that didn't faze flighty sister Judah. She went out, big as you please, and took up a whore's life also. She took up cheap sex-and-religion as a sideline diversion, an indulgent recreation, and used anything and anyone, flouting sanity and sanctity alike, stinking up the country. And not once in all this did flighty sister Judah even give me a nod, although she made a show of it from time to time." God's Decree.

11-12 Then God told me, "Fickle Israel was a good sight better than flighty Judah. Go and preach this message. Face north toward Israel and say:

13-15 "'Turn back, fickle Israel. I'm not just hanging back to punish you. I'm committed in love to you. My anger doesn't seethe nonstop. Just admit your guilt. Admit your God-defiance. Admit to your promiscuous life with casual partners, pulling strangers into the sex-and-religion groves While turning a deaf ear to me.'" God's Decree. "Come back, wandering children!" God's Decree. "I, yes I, am your true husband. I'll pick you out one by one— This one from the city, these two from the country— and bring you to Zion. I'll give you good shepherd-rulers who rule my way, who rule you with intelligence and wisdom.

16 "And this is what will happen: You will increase and prosper in the land. The time will come"—God's Decree!—"when no one will say any longer, 'Oh, for the good old days! Remember the Ark of the Covenant?' It won't even occur to anyone to say it—'the good old days.' The so-called good old days of the Ark are gone for good.

17 "Jerusalem will be the new Ark—'God's Throne.' All the godless nations, no longer stuck in the ruts of their evil ways, will gather there to honor God.

18 "At that time, the House of Judah will join up with the House of Israel. Holding hands, they'll leave the north country and come to the land I willed to your ancestors.

19-20 "I planned what I'd say if you returned to me: 'Good! I'll bring you back into the family. I'll give you choice land, land that the godless nations would die for.' And I imagined that you would say, 'Dear father!' and would never again go off and leave me. But no luck. Like a false-hearted woman walking out on her husband, you, the whole family of Israel, have proven false to me." God's Decree.

21-22 The sound of voices comes drifting out of the hills, the unhappy sound of Israel's crying, Israel lamenting the wasted years, never once giving her God a thought. "Come back, wandering children! I can heal your wanderlust!"

23-25 "We're here! We've come back to you. You're our own true God! All that popular religion was a cheap lie, duped crowds buying up the latest in gods. We're back! Back to our true God, the salvation of Israel. The Fraud picked us clean, swindled us of what our ancestors bequeathed us, Gypped us out of our inheritance— God-blessed flocks and God-given children. We made our bed and now lie in it, all tangled up in the dirty sheets of dishonor. All because we sinned against our God, we and our fathers and mothers. From the time we took our first steps, said our first words, we've been rebels, disobeying the voice of our God."

Jeremiah 3

1 “If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife,
he may not take her back again.ts
Doing that would utterly defile the land.t
But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods.t
So what makes you think you can return to me?”t
says the Lord.

2 “Look up at the hilltops and consider this.t
You have had sex with other gods on every one of them.t
You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert.t
You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods.t

3 That is why the rains have been withheld,
and the spring rains have not come.
Yet in spite of this you are obstinate as a prostitute.t
You refuse to be ashamed of what you have done.

4 Even now you say to me, ‘You are my father!t
You have been my faithful companion ever since I was young.

5 You will not always be angry with me, will you?
You will not be mad at me forever, will you?’t
That is what you say,
but you continually do all the evil that you can.”t
6 When Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done.t You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute to other gods.t7 Yet even after she had done all that, I thought that she might come back to me.ts But she did not. Her sister, unfaithful Judah, saw what she did.t8 She also saws that I gave wayward Israel her divorce papers and sent her away because of her adulterous worship of other gods.t Even after her unfaithful sister Judah had seen this,t she still was not afraid, and she too went and gave herself like a prostitute to other gods.t9 Because she took her prostitution so lightly, she defiled the lands through her adulterous worship of gods made of wood and stone.t10 In spite of all this,t Israel’s sister, unfaithful Judah, has not turned back to me with any sincerity; she has only pretended to do so,”t says the Lord.

11 Then the Lord said to me, “Under the circumstances, wayward Israel could even be considered less guilty than unfaithful Judah.ts

The Lord Calls on Israel and Judah to Repent

12 “Go and shout this message to my people in the countries in the north.t Tell them,
‘Come back to me, wayward Israel,’ says the Lord.
‘I will not continue to look on you with displeasure.t
For I am merciful,’ says the Lord.
‘I will not be angry with you forever.

13 However, you must confess that you have done wrong,t
and that you have rebelled against the Lord your God.
You must confesst that you have given yourself tost foreign gods under every green tree,
and have not obeyed my commands,’ says the Lord.
14 “Come back to me, my wayward sons,” says the Lord, “for I am your true master.ts If you do,t I will take one of you from each town and two of you from each family group, and I will bring you back to Zion.15 I will give you leaderst who will be faithful to me.t They will lead you with knowledge and insight.16 In those days, your population will greatly increaset in the land. At that time,” says the Lord, “people will no longer talk about having the arkt that contains the Lord’s covenant with us.t They will not call it to mind, remember it, or miss it. No, that will not be done any more!t17 At that time the city of Jerusalems will be called the Lord’s throne. All nations will gather there in Jerusalem to honor the Lord’s name.t They will no longer follow the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts.t

18 At that timet the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel will be reunited.t Together they will come back from a land in the north to the land that I gave to your ancestors as a permanent possession. ”t

19 “I thought to myself,t
‘Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son!ts
What a joy it would be for me to givet you a pleasant land,
the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!’t
I thought you would call me, ‘Father’t
and would never cease being loyal to me.t

20 But, you have been unfaithful to me, nation of Israel,t
like an unfaithful wife who has left her husband,”t
says the Lord.

21 “A noise is heard on the hilltops.
It is the sound of the people of Israel crying and pleading to their gods.
Indeed they have followed sinful ways;t
they have forgotten to be true to the Lord their God.t

22 Come back to me, you wayward people.
I want to cure your waywardness.t
Say,t ‘Here we are. We come to you
because you are the Lord our God.

23 We know our noisy worship of false gods
on the hills and mountains did not help us.t
We know that the Lord our God
is the only one who can deliver Israel.t

24 From earliest times our worship of that shameful god, Baal,
has taken awayt all that our ancestorst worked for.
It has taken away our flocks and our herds,
and even our sons and daughters.

25 Let us acknowledget our shame.
Let us bear the disgrace that we deserve.t
For we have sinned against the Lord our God,
both we and our ancestors.
From earliest times to this very day
we have not obeyed the Lord our God.’