Jeremiah 3:19-25

19I thought this: “I want you people of Israel to be my children. That would make me very happy. I want to give you a good land as your home. It is a more beautiful land than any other nation enjoys.” I thought that you would call me “Father”. I thought that you would always be faithful to me.

20But you, Israel, have gone away from me, like a woman who leaves her husband. You have not been faithful to me.’ That is what the Lord says.

21‘I can hear a noise on the tops of the hills. Israel's people are weeping. They are calling out for help. Yes, they have turned to bad ways. They have forgotten to serve the Lord their God.

22Return to me, all of you have turned away. I will help you to be faithful to me. Now you should say, “Yes, we will return to you, because you are the Lord our God.

23The false gods that we worship on the hills have deceived us. Our wild parties on the mountains have not helped us. Only the Lord our God can really save Israel.

24Since we were a young nation, we have seen all our good things disappear. The useless gods that we worshipped have taken them. They took away the things that our ancestors worked to get. They took away our sheep and our cows. They even took away our sons and our daughters.

25We are ashamed to agree that this is true. We must accept the shame that we deserve. We and our ancestors have done bad things against the Lord our God. Since long ago, we have not obeyed him, and even today, we still do not listen to him.” ’