Jeremiah 3:8–12

8 I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. 9 Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. 10 In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the Lord.

11 The Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah. 12 Go, proclaim this message toward the north:

“ ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord,

‘I will frown on you no longer,

for I am faithful,’ declares the Lord,

‘I will not be angry forever.

8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. 9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. 10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord. 11 And the Lord said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. 12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever.

8 She saw that I divorced faithless Israel because of her adultery. But that treacherous sister Judah had no fear, and now she, too, has left me and given herself to prostitution. 9 Israel treated it all so lightly—she thought nothing of committing adultery by worshiping idols made of wood and stone. So now the land has been polluted. 10 But despite all this, her faithless sister Judah has never sincerely returned to me. She has only pretended to be sorry. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

11 Then the Lord said to me, “Even faithless Israel is less guilty than treacherous Judah! 12 Therefore, go and give this message to Israel. This is what the Lord says:

“O Israel, my faithless people,

come home to me again,

for I am merciful.

I will not be angry with you forever.

8 Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. 9 So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. 10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but in pretense,” says the Lord.

11 Then the Lord said to me, “Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say:

‘Return, backsliding Israel,’ says the Lord;

‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you.

For I am merciful,’ says the Lord;

‘I will not remain angry forever.

8 Judah saw that I divorced unfaithful Israel because of her adultery, but that didn’t make Israel’s wicked sister Judah afraid. She also went out and acted like a prostitute! 9 And she didn’t care that she was acting like a prostitute. So she made her country unclean and was guilty of adultery, because she worshiped idols made of stone and wood. 10 Israel’s wicked sister didn’t even come back to me with her whole heart, but only pretended,” says the Lord.

11 The Lord said to me, “Unfaithful Israel had a better excuse than wicked Judah. 12 Go and speak this message toward the north:

‘Come back, unfaithful people of Israel,’ says the Lord.

‘I will stop being angry at you,

because I am full of mercy,’ says the Lord.

‘I will not be angry with you forever.

8 And I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement, yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not; but she also went and played the harlot. 9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks. 10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith Jehovah.

11 And Jehovah said unto me, Backsliding Israel hath showed herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith Jehovah; I will not look in anger upon you; for I am merciful, saith Jehovah, I will not keep anger for ever.

8 And I saw that when for all the causes wherein backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce, yet the treacherous Judah, her sister, feared not, but went and committed fornication also. 9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her fornication that she polluted the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. 10 And even for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, saith Jehovah. 11 And Jehovah said unto me, Backsliding Israel hath shewn herself more just than treacherous Judah.

12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith Jehovah: I will not make my face dark upon you; for I am merciful, saith Jehovah; I will not keep anger for ever.

8 Judah saw that I sent unfaithful Israel away because of her adultery and that I gave Israel her divorce papers. But treacherous Judah, her sister, wasn’t afraid. She also acted like a prostitute. 9 Because she wasn’t concerned about acting like a prostitute, she polluted the land and committed adultery with standing stones and wood pillars. 10 Even after all this, Israel’s treacherous sister Judah didn’t wholeheartedly come back to me.She was deceitful,” declares the Lord. 

11 Then the Lord said to me, “Unfaithful Israel was less guilty than treacherous Judah. 12 Go and proclaim these things to the north: 

“ ‘Come back, unfaithful Israel. 

It is the Lord speaking. 

I will no longer frown on you 

because I’m merciful,’ declares the Lord. 

‘I will no longer be angry with you. 

8 I observed that it was because unfaithful Israel had committed adultery that I had sent her away and had given her a certificate of divorce. Nevertheless, her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid but also went and prostituted herself. 9 Indifferent to her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. 10 Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah didn’t return to Me with all her heart —only in pretense.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

11 The Lord announced to me, “Unfaithful Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go, proclaim these words to the north, and say:

Return, unfaithful Israel.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

I will not look on you with anger,

for I am unfailing in My love.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

I will not be angry forever.

8 She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce, yet her false sister Judah did not fear, but she also went and prostituted herself. 9 Because she took her prostitution so lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. 10 Yet for all this her false sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart but only in pretense, says the Lord.

11 Then the Lord said to me: Faithless Israel has shown herself less guilty than false Judah. 12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say:

Return, faithless Israel,

says the Lord.

I will not look on you in anger,

for I am merciful,

says the Lord;

I will not be angry forever.

8 And I saw that for this very reason, that on account of apostate Israel committing adultery I divorced her and gave the letter of divorce to her. Yet her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid and she went and prostituted herself also. 9 And it was because of the frivolity of her fornication that she defiled the land and committed adultery with the stone and with the tree. 10 Yet even in all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares Yahweh.

11 Then Yahweh said to me, “Apostate Israel has proved herself more upright than treacherous Judah. 12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say,

‘Return, apostate Israel,’ declares Yahweh.

‘I will not cause my anger to fall on you.

For I am loyal,’ declares Yahweh.

‘I will not be angry forever.

8 “I gave Israel their letter of divorce. I sent them away because they were unfaithful to me so many times. But I saw that their sister nation Judah did not have any respect for me. They were not faithful to me either. They also went out and committed adultery with other gods.

9 “Israel was not faithful to me, but that did not bother them at all. They made the land ‘unclean.’ They worshiped gods that were made out of stone and wood. 10 In spite of all that, their sister Judah did not come back to me. They were not faithful to me either. They did not return with all their heart. They only pretended to,” announces the Lord.

11 The Lord said to me, “Israel and Judah have not been faithful to me. But Israel was not as bad as Judah was.

12 “Go. Announce this message to the people in the north. Tell them,

“ ‘Israel, you have not been faithful,’ announces the Lord.

‘Return to me. Then I will look on you with favor again.

My love is faithful,’ announces the Lord.

‘I will not be angry with you forever.

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.

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.