Jeremiah 3

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.