Jeremiah 3

The Defiled Land

1God 1says, “2If a husband divorces his wife And she leaves him And becomes another man’s wife, Will he return to her again? Would that land not be completely defiled? But you 3are a prostitute with many 4lovers; Yet you 5turn to Me,” declares the Lord.2“Raise your eyes to the 6bare heights and see; Where have you not been violated? You have 7sat for them by the roads Like an Arab in the desert, And you have 8defiled a land With your prostitution and your wickedness.3Therefore the 9showers have been withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you had a 10prostitute’s 11forehead; You refused to be ashamed.4Have you not just now called to Me, ‘12My Father, You are the 13friend of my 14youth?515Will He be angry forever, Or keep His anger to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken And have done evil things, And you have 16had your own way.”

Faithless Israel

6Then the Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She 17went up on every high hill and under every leafy tree, and she prostituted herself there. 7Yet 18I 19thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her 20treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8And I saw that for all the 21adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and 22given her a certificate of divorce, yet her 23treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and prostituted herself also. 9And because of the thoughtlessness of her prostitution, she 24defiled the land and committed 25adultery with 26stones and trees. 10Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in 27deception,” declares the Lord.

God Invites Repentance

11And the Lord said to me, “28Faithless Israel has proved herself to be more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, ‘29Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord; ‘30I will not 31look at you in anger. For I am 32gracious,’ declares the Lord; ‘I will not be angry forever.13Only 3334acknowledge your wrongdoing, That you have revolted against the Lord your God, And have 35scattered your 36favors to the strangers 37under every leafy tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the Lord.14‘Return, you faithless sons,’ declares the Lord; ‘For I am a 38master to you, And I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, And 39bring you to Zion.’

15“Then I will give you 40shepherds 41after My own heart, who will 42feed you knowledge and understanding. 16And it shall be in those days when you become numerous and are fruitful in the land,” declares the Lord, “they will 43no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor miss it, nor will it be made again. 17At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The 44Throne of the Lord,’ and 45all the nations will assemble at it, at Jerusalem, for the 46name of the Lord; and they will no longer 47follow the stubbornness of their evil heart. 1848In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together 49from the land of the north to the 50land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.

19“Then I said, ‘How I would set you among 51My sons And give you a pleasant land, The most 52beautiful inheritance of the nations!’ And I said, ‘You shall call Me, 53My Father, And not turn away from following Me.’20However, as a woman treacherously leaves her lover, So you have 54dealt treacherously with Me, House of Israel,” declares the Lord.

21A voice is heard on the 55bare heights, The weeping, the pleading of the sons of Israel. Because they have perverted their way, They have 56forgotten the Lord their God.22“Return, you faithless sons, 57I will heal your faithlessness.” “Behold, we come to You; For You are the Lord our God.23Certainly 58the hills are a deception, 59Commotion on the mountains. Certainly in the 60Lord our God Is the salvation of Israel.

24“But 61the shame has consumed the product of our fathers’ labor since our youth--their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25Let us lie down in our 62shame, and let our humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, 63from our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”