Jeremiah 3:12–20

12 Go, proclaim these words to the north, and say,

‘Return, unfaithful Israel.s

This is the Lord’s declaration.

I will not look on you with anger,B

for I am unfailing in my love.t

This is the Lord’s declaration.

I will not be angry forever.u

13 Only acknowledge your guiltv—

you have rebelled against the Lord your God.w

You have scattered your favors to strangers

under every green treex

and have not obeyed me.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

14 “ ‘Return, you faithless childreny—this is the Lord’s declaration—for I am your master,C,z and I will take you,aa one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. 15 I will give you shepherds who are loyal to me,D,ab and they will shepherd you with knowledge and skill. 16 When you multiply and increase in the land,ac in those days—this is the Lord’s declaration—no one will say again, “The ark of the Lord’s covenant.”ad It will never come to mind, and no one will remember or miss it. Another one will not be made.E 17 At that time Jerusalem will be called The Lord’s Throne,ae and all the nations will be gathered to it,af to the name of the Lord in Jerusalem.ag They will cease to follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. 18 In those days the house of Judah will join with the house of Israel,ah and they will come together from the land of the north to the land I have given your ancestors to inherit.’ ”ai

TRUE REPENTANCE

19 I thought, “How I long to make you my sons

and give you a desirable land,

the most beautiful inheritanceaj of all the nations.”

I thought, “You will call me ‘My Father’

and never turn away from me.”

20 However, as a woman may betray her lover,F

so you have betrayedak me, house of Israel.

This is the Lord’s declaration.