Israel is Shameless

3 “They say, ‘If a man divorces his wife, And she goes from him

And becomes another man’s,

aMay he return to her again?’

Would not that bland be greatly polluted?

But you have cplayed the harlot with many lovers;

dYet return to Me,” says the Lord.

2 “Lift up your eyes to ethe desolate heights and see:

Where have you not 1lain with men?

fBy the road you have sat for them

Like an Arabian in the wilderness;

gAnd you have polluted the land

With your harlotries and your wickedness.

3 Therefore the hshowers have been withheld,

And there has been no latter rain.

You have had a iharlot’s forehead;

You refuse to be ashamed.

4 Will you not from this time cry to Me,

‘My Father, You are jthe guide of kmy youth?

5 lWill He remain angry forever?

Will He keep it to the end?’

Behold, you have spoken and done evil things,

As you were able.”

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.”

The Remnant of Israel Saved

31 “At athe same time,” says the Lord, b“I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”

2 Thus says the Lord:

“The people who survived the sword

Found grace in the wilderness—

Israel, when cI went to give him rest.”

3 The Lord has appeared 1of old to me, saying:

“Yes, dI have loved you with ean everlasting love;

Therefore with lovingkindness I have fdrawn you.

4 Again gI will build you, and you shall be rebuilt,

O virgin of Israel!

You shall again be adorned with your htambourines,

And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.

5 iYou shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria;

The planters shall plant and 2eat them as ordinary food.

6 For there shall be a day

When the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim,

j‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,

To the Lord our God.’ ”

7 For thus says the Lord:

k“Sing with gladness for Jacob,

And shout among the chief of the nations;

Proclaim, give praise, and say,

‘O Lord, save Your people,

The remnant of Israel!’

8 Behold, I will bring them lfrom the north country,

And mgather them from the ends of the earth,

Among them the blind and the lame,

The woman with child

And the one who labors with child, together;

A great throng shall return there.

9 nThey shall come with weeping,

And with supplications I will lead them.

I will cause them to walk oby the rivers of waters,

In a straight way in which they shall not stumble;

For I am a Father to Israel,

And Ephraim is My pfirstborn.

10 “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,

And declare it in the 3isles afar off, and say,

‘He who scattered Israel qwill gather him,

And keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’

11 For rthe Lord has redeemed Jacob,

And ransomed him sfrom the hand of one stronger than he.

12 Therefore they shall come and sing in tthe height of Zion,

Streaming to uthe goodness of the Lord

For wheat and new wine and oil,

For the young of the flock and the herd;

Their souls shall be like a vwell-watered garden,

wAnd they shall sorrow no more at all.

13 “Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance,

And the young men and the old, together;

For I will turn their mourning to joy,

Will comfort them,

And make them rejoice rather than sorrow.

14 I will 4satiate the soul of the priests with abundance,

And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.”

Mercy on Ephraim

15 Thus says the Lord:

x“A voice was heard in yRamah,

Lamentation and bitter zweeping,

Rachel weeping for her children,

Refusing to be comforted for her children,

Because athey are no more.”

16 Thus says the Lord:

“Refrain your voice from bweeping,

And your eyes from tears;

For your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord,

And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.

17 There is chope in your future, says the Lord,

That your children shall come back to their own border.

18 “I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself:

‘You have dchastised me, and I was chastised,

Like an untrained bull;

eRestore me, and I will return,

For You are the Lord my God.

19 Surely, fafter my turning, I repented;

And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh;

I was gashamed, yes, even humiliated,

Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’

20 Is Ephraim My dear son?

Is he a pleasant child?

For though I spoke against him,

I earnestly remember him still;

hTherefore My 5heart yearns for him;

iI will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord.

21 “Set up signposts,

Make landmarks;

jSet your heart toward the highway,

The way in which you went.

6Turn back, O virgin of Israel,

Turn back to these your cities.

22 How long will you kgad about,

O you lbacksliding daughter?

For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth—

A woman shall encompass a man.”

Future Prosperity of Judah

23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I bring back their captivity: m‘The Lord bless you, O home of justice, and nmountain of holiness!’ 24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and oin all its cities together, farmers and those going out with flocks. 25 For I have 7satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”

26 After this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was psweet to me.

27 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that qI will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass, that as I have rwatched over them sto pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them tto build and to plant, says the Lord. 29 uIn those days they shall say no more:

‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,

And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

30 vBut every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

A New Covenant

31 “Behold, the wdays are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that xI took them by the hand to lead them out of the…