Jeremiah 3–4

They say, ^aIf a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, ^ashall he return unto her again? shall not that ^bland be greatly polluted? but thou hast ^cplayed the harlot with many lovers; yet ^dreturn again to me, saith the Lord. ²Lift up thine eyes unto ^ethe high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. ^fIn the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and ^bthou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. ³Therefore ^gthe showers have been withholden, and there hath been no ^hlatter rain; and thou hadst ⁱa whore’s forehead, ^kthou refusedst to be ashamed. ⁴Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art ^lthe guide of ^mmy youth? ⁵ⁿWill he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.

⁶The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which ^obacksliding Israel hath done? ^pshe is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath ^cplayed the harlot. ^7qAnd I said after she had done all these things, ^dTurn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her ^rtreacherous ^ssister Judah saw it. ⁸And I saw, ^twhen for all the causes whereby ^obacksliding Israel committed adultery ^uI had put her away, and given her ^va bill of divorce; ^tyet her ^rtreacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. ⁹And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that ^bshe defiled the land, and committed adultery with ^wstones and with stocks. ¹⁰And yet for all this her ^rtreacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me ^xwith her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord. ¹¹And the Lord said unto me, The ^obacksliding Israel ^yhath justified herself more than ^rtreacherous Judah. ¹²Go and proclaim these words toward ^zthe north, and say, ^dReturn, thou ^obacksliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not ^acause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am ^bmerciful, saith the Lord, and ^cI will not keep anger for ever. ^13dOnly acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast ^escattered thy ways to the ^fstrangers ^gunder every green tree, and ^hye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord. ¹⁴ⁱTurn, ^jO backsliding children, saith the Lord; for ^kI am married unto you: and I will take you ^lone of a city, and ^mtwo of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: ¹⁵and ⁿI will give you ^opastors according to mine heart, ^pwhich shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. ¹⁶And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more. ¹⁷At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and ^qall the nations shall be gathered unto it, ^rto the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither ^sshall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. ¹⁸In those days ^tthe house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of ^uthe north to ^vthe land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. ¹⁹But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, ^xThou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me. ²⁰Surely as a wife ^xxtreacherously departeth from her husband, so ^yhave you ^xxdealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.

²¹A voice was heard upon ^zthe high places, weeping and ^asupplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and ^bthey have forgotten the Lord their God. ^22cReturn, ye backsliding children, and I ^dwill heal your ^ebackslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God. ²³Truly in vain is salvation hoped for ^ffrom the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly ^gin the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. ²⁴For ^hshame hath devoured ⁱthe labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. ²⁵We lie down in our shame, and ^jour confusion covereth us: for ^kwe have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, ^lfrom our youth even unto this day, and ^mhave not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.

IV.If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, ^areturn unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not ^bremove. ^2cAnd thou shalt swear, ^dThe Lord liveth, ^ein truth, in judgment, and ^ein righteousness; and ^fthe nations shall bless themselves in him, and ^gin him shall they glory. ³For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, ^hBreak up your ⁱfallow ground, and ^ksow not among thorns. ^4lCircumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: ^mlest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, ^mnbecause of the evil of your doings. ⁵Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, ^oBlow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, ^pAssemble yourselves, and let us go into ^qthe defenced cities. ^6rSet up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from ^sthe north, and a great destruction. ^7tThe lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place ^uto make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, ^vwithout an inhabitant. ⁸For this ^wgird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: ^xfor ^xythe fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us. ⁹And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall ^zwonder. ¹⁰(Then said I, Ah, Lord God! ^asurely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, ^bsaying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul). ¹¹At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem,

^cA dry wind of ^dthe high places ^ein the wilderness toward the daughter of my people,

Not to fan, nor to cleanse,

¹²Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me:

Now also will I give sentence against them.

¹³Behold, he shall come up as clouds,

And his chariots shall be ^fas a whirlwind:

His horses are ^gswifter than eagles.

Woe unto us! ^hfor we are spoiled.

¹⁴O Jerusalem, ⁱwash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved.

How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

¹⁵For ^ka voice declareth ^lfrom Dan,

And publisheth affliction from ^mmount Ephraim.

¹⁶Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem,

That watchers come ⁿfrom a far country,

And give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

^17oAs keepers of a field, are they against her round about;

Because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the Lord.

¹⁸Thy way and thy doings ^phave procured these things unto thee;

This is thy wickedness, because ^qit is bitter,

Because it reacheth unto thine heart.

^19rMy bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart;

^sMy heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace,

Because thou hast heard, O my soul, ^tthe sound of the trumpet, ^ttthe alarm of war.

^20uDestruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled:

Suddenly are ^vmy tents spoiled, and ^vmy curtains in a moment.

²¹How long shall I see the standard, and hear ^tthe sound of the trumpet?

²²For my people is foolish, ^wthey have not known me;

They are sottish children, and they have none understanding:

^xThey are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

^23yI beheld the earth, and lo, it was ^zwithout form, and void;

And the heavens, and ^athey had no light.

²⁴I beheld ^bthe mountains, and lo, they trembled,

And all the hills moved lightly.

²⁵I beheld, and lo, ^cthere was no man,

And ^call the birds of the heavens ^dwere fled.

²⁶I beheld, and lo, ^ethe fruitful place was a wilderness,

And all the cities thereof were broken down

At the presence of the Lord, and by his ^ffierce anger.

²⁷For thus hath the Lord said,

The whole land shall be desolate;

Yet ^gwill I not make a full end.

²⁸For this ^hshall the earth mourn, and ^aithe heavens above be black:

Because I have spoken it, I have purposed it,

And ^kwill not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

²⁹The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and ^lbowmen;

They shall go into thickets, and climb up upon ^mthe rocks:

Every city shall be forsaken, and ⁿnot a man dwell therein.

³⁰And ^owhen thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do?

Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou ^pdeckest thee with ornaments of gold,

Though thou rentest ^qthy face with painting, in vain ^rshalt thou make thyself fair;

Thy ^slovers ^twill despise thee, they will seek thy life.

³¹For I have heard a voice as of ^ua woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child,

The voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that ^vspreadeth her hands,

^wSaying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

V.