Jeremiah 3:12–25

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.

21 A sound is heard on the barren heights:

the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy,

for they have perverted their way;

they have forgotten the Lord their God.al

22 Return, you faithless children.

I will heal your unfaithfulness.am

“Here we are, coming to you,

for you are the Lord our God.

23 Surely, falsehood comes from the hills,

commotion from the mountains,a

but the salvation of Israel

is only in the Lord our God.b

24 From the time of our youth

the shameful oneA has consumed

what our ancestors have worked for—

their flocks and their herds,

their sons and their daughters.

25 Let us lie down in our shame;

let our disgrace cover us.c

We have sinned against the Lord our God,d

both we and our ancestors,

from the time of our youth even to this day.e

We have not obeyed the Lord our God.”