A Call to Repentance

6 The Lord said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: “Have you seen what mbacksliding Israel has done? She has ngone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot. 7 oAnd I said, after she had done all these things, ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous psister Judah saw it. 8 Then I saw that qfor all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had rput her away and given her a certificate of divorce; syet 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 tdefiled the land and committed adultery with ustones and trees. 10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me vwith her whole heart, but in pretense,” says the Lord.

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

‘Return, backsliding Israel,’ says the Lord;

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

For I am ymerciful,’ says the Lord;

‘I will not remain angry forever.

13 zOnly acknowledge your iniquity,

That you have transgressed against the Lord your God,

And have ascattered your 2charms

To balien deities cunder every green tree,

And you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the Lord.

14 “Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; d“for I am married to you. I will take you, eone from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to fZion. 15 And I will give you gshepherds according to My heart, who will hfeed you with knowledge and understanding.

16 “Then it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and iincreased in the land in those days,” says the Lord, “that they will say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ jIt shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made anymore.

17 “At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, kto the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. No more shall they lfollow 3the dictates of their evil hearts.

18 “In those days mthe house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of nthe north to othe land that I have given as an inheritance to your fathers.

19 “But I said:

‘How can I put you among the children

And give you pa pleasant land,

A beautiful heritage of the hosts of nations?’

“And I said:

‘You shall call Me, q“My Father,”

And not turn away from Me.’

20 Surely, as a wife treacherously departs from her 4husband,

So rhave you dealt treacherously with Me,

O house of Israel,” says the Lord.

21 A voice was heard on sthe desolate heights,

Weeping and supplications of the children of Israel.

For they have perverted their way;

They have forgotten the Lord their God.

22 “Return, you backsliding children,

And I will theal your backslidings.”

“Indeed we do come to You,

For You are the Lord our God.

23 uTruly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills,

And from the multitude of mountains;

vTruly, in the Lord our God

Is the salvation of Israel.

24 wFor shame has devoured

The labor of our fathers from our youth—

Their flocks and their herds,

Their sons and their daughters.

25 We lie down in our shame,

And our 5reproach covers us.

xFor we have sinned against the Lord our God,

We and our fathers,

From our youth even to this day,

And yhave not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”

4 “If you will return, O Israel,” says the Lord,

a“Return to Me;

And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight,

Then you shall not be moved.

2 bAnd you shall swear, ‘The Lord lives,’

cIn truth, in 1judgment, and in righteousness;

dThe nations shall bless themselves in Him,

And in Him they shall eglory.”

3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

f“Break up your 2fallow ground,

And gdo not sow among thorns.

4 hCircumcise yourselves to the Lord,

And take away the foreskins of your hearts,

You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,

Lest My fury come forth like fire,

And burn so that no one can quench it,

Because of the evil of your doings.”

An Imminent Invasion

5 Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:

i“Blow the trumpet in the land;

Cry, ‘Gather together,’

And say, j‘Assemble yourselves,

And let us go into the fortified cities.’

6 Set up the 3standard toward Zion.

Take refuge! Do not delay!

For I will bring disaster from the knorth,

And great destruction.”

7 lThe lion has come up from his thicket,

And mthe destroyer of nations is on his way.

He has gone forth from his place

nTo make your land desolate.

Your cities will be laid waste,

Without inhabitant.

8 For this, oclothe yourself with sackcloth,

Lament and wail.

For the fierce anger of the Lord—

Has not turned back from us.

9 “And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord,

“That the heart of the king shall perish,

And the heart of the princes;

The priests shall be astonished,

And the prophets shall wonder.”

10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God!

pSurely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem,

qSaying, ‘You shall have peace,’

Whereas the sword reaches to the 4heart.”

11 At that time it will be said

To this people and to Jerusalem,

r“A dry wind of the desolate heights blows in the wilderness—

Toward the daughter of My people—

Not to fan or to cleanse—

12 A wind too strong for these will come for Me;

Now sI will also speak judgment against them.”

13 “Behold, he shall come up like clouds,

And this chariots like a whirlwind.

uHis horses are swifter than eagles.

Woe to us, for we are plundered!”

14 O Jerusalem, vwash your heart from wickedness,

That you may be saved.

How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?

15 For a voice declares wfrom Dan

And proclaims 5affliction from Mount Ephraim:

16 “Make mention to the nations,

Yes, proclaim against Jerusalem,

That watchers come from a xfar country

And raise their voice against the cities of Judah.

17 yLike keepers of a field they are against her all around,

Because she has been rebellious against Me,” says the Lord.

18 “Your zways and your doings

Have procured these things for you.

This is your wickedness,

Because it is bitter,

Because it reaches to your heart.”

Sorrow for the Doomed Nation

19 O my asoul, my soul!

I am pained in my very heart!

My heart makes a noise in me;

I cannot hold my peace,

Because you have heard, O my soul,

The sound of the trumpet,

The alarm of war.

20 bDestruction upon destruction is cried,

For the whole land is plundered.

Suddenly cmy tents are plundered,

And my curtains in a moment.

21 How long will I see the 6standard,

And hear the sound of the trumpet?

22 “For My people are foolish,

They have not known Me.

They are 7silly children,

And they have no understanding.

dThey are wise to do evil,

But to do good they have no knowledge.”

23 eI beheld the earth, and indeed it was fwithout form, and void;

And the heavens, they had no light.

24 gI beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled,

And all the hills moved back and forth.

25 I beheld, and indeed there was no man,

And hall the birds of the heavens had fled.

26 I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a iwilderness,

And all its cities were broken down

At the presence of the Lord,

By His fierce anger.

27 For thus says the Lord:

“The whole land shall be desolate;

jYet I will not make a full end.

28 For this kshall the earth mourn,

And lthe heavens above be black,

Because I have spoken.

I have mpurposed and nwill not relent,

Nor will I turn back from it.

29 The whole city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen and bowmen.

They shall go into thickets and climb up on the rocks.

Every city shall be forsaken,

And not a man shall dwell in it.