Jeremiah 3

The Polluted Land

1  God says, "If a husband divorces his wife
And she goes from him
And belongs to another man,
Will he still return to her?
Will not that land be completely polluted?
But you are a harlot with many lovers;
Yet you turn to Me," declares the LORD.

2 "Lift up your eyes to the bare heights and see;
Where have you not been violated?
By the roads you have sat for them
Like an Arab in the desert,
And you have polluted a land
With your harlotry and with your wickedness.

3 "Therefore the showers have been withheld,
And there has been no spring rain.
Yet you had a harlot's forehead;
You refused to be ashamed.

4 "Have you not just now called to Me,
'My Father, You are the friend of my youth?

5 'Will He be angry forever?
Will He be indignant to the end?'
Behold, you have spoken
And have done evil things,
And you have had your way."

Faithless Israel

6 Then the LORD said to me in the days of Josiah the king, "Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there.7 I thought, 'After she has done all these things she will return to Me'; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.8 And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also.9 Because of the lightness of her harlotry, she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.10 Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception," declares the LORD.

God Invites Repentance

11 And the LORD said to me, "Faithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say,
'Return, faithless Israel,' declares the LORD;
'I will not look upon you in anger.
For I am gracious,' declares the LORD;
'I will not be angry forever.

13 'Only acknowledge your iniquity,
That you have transgressed against the LORD your God
And have scattered your favors to the strangers under every green tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,' declares the LORD.

14 'Return, O faithless sons,' declares the LORD;
'For I am a master to you,
And I will take you one from a city and two from a family,
And I will bring you to Zion.'

15 "Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding.16 It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land," declares the LORD, "they will no longer say, 'The ark of the covenant of the LORD.' And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again.17 At that time they will call Jerusalem 'The Throne of the LORD,' and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the LORD; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart.18 In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.

19 "Then I said,
'How I would set you among My sons
And give you a pleasant land,
The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!'
And I said, 'You shall call Me, My Father,
And not turn away from following Me.'

20 "Surely, as a woman treacherously departs from her lover,
So you have dealt treacherously with Me,
O house of Israel," declares the LORD.

21 A voice is heard on the bare heights,
The weeping and the supplications of the sons of Israel;
Because they have perverted their way,
They have forgotten the LORD their God.

22 "Return, O faithless sons,
I will heal your faithlessness."
"Behold, we come to You;
For You are the LORD our God.

23 "Surely, the hills are a deception,
A tumult on the mountains.
Surely in the LORD our God
Is the salvation of Israel.

24 "But the shameful thing has consumed the labor of our fathers since our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD 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.’