Jeremiah 3–4

3“Suppose a man divorces his wife.

What if she then gets married to another man?

Should her first husband return to her again?

If he does, won’t the land become completely ‘unclean’?

People of Israel, you have lived like a prostitute.

You have loved many other gods.

So do you think you can return to me now?”

announces the Lord.

²“Look up at the bare hilltops.

Is there any place where you have not committed adultery with other gods?

By the side of the road you sat waiting for lovers.

You sat there like someone who wanders in the desert.

You have polluted the land.

You are like a sinful prostitute.

³So I have held the showers back.

I have kept the spring rains from falling.

But you still have the bold face of a prostitute.

You refuse to blush with shame.

⁴You have just now called out to me.

You said,

‘My Father, you have been my friend

ever since I was young.

⁵Will you always be angry with me?

Will your anger continue forever?’

That is how you talk.

But you do all of the evil things you can.”

Israel Is Not Faithful to the Lord

⁶During the time Josiah was king, the Lord spoke to me. He said, “Have you seen what the people of Israel have done? They have not been faithful to me. They have committed adultery with other gods. They worshiped them on every high hill and under every green tree.

⁷“I thought that after they had done all of those things, they would return to me. But they did not. Their sister nation Judah saw it. And they were not faithful to me either.

⁸“I gave Israel their letter of divorce. I sent them away because they were unfaithful to me so many times. But I saw that their sister nation Judah did not have any respect for me. They were not faithful to me either. They also went out and committed adultery with other gods.

⁹“Israel was not faithful to me, but that did not bother them at all. They made the land ‘unclean.’ They worshiped gods that were made out of stone and wood. ¹⁰In spite of all that, their sister Judah did not come back to me. They were not faithful to me either. They did not return with all their heart. They only pretended to,” announces the Lord.

¹¹The Lord said to me, “Israel and Judah have not been faithful to me. But Israel was not as bad as Judah was.

¹²“Go. Announce this message to the people in the north. Tell them,

“ ‘Israel, you have not been faithful,’ announces the Lord.

‘Return to me. Then I will look on you with favor again.

My love is faithful,’ announces the Lord.

‘I will not be angry with you forever.

¹³Admit that you are guilty of doing what is wrong.

You have refused to obey me. I am the Lord your God.

You have committed adultery with other gods.

You worshiped them under every green tree.

And you have not obeyed me,’ ”

announces the Lord.

¹⁴“You people have not been faithful,” announces the Lord. “Return to me. I am your husband. I will choose one of you from each town. I will choose two from each territory. And I will bring you to the city of Zion.

¹⁵“Then I will give you shepherds who are dear to my heart. Their knowledge and understanding will help them lead you. ¹⁶In those days your numbers will increase greatly in the land,” announces the Lord.

“Then people will not talk about the ark of the covenant of the Lord anymore. It will never enter their minds. They will not remember it. The ark will not be missed. And another one will not be made.

¹⁷“At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord. All of the nations will gather together there. They will go there to honor me. They will no longer do what their stubborn and evil hearts want them to do.

¹⁸“In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel. Together they will come from a land in the north. They will come to the land I gave to your people long ago. I wanted them to have it as their very own.

¹⁹“I myself said,

“ ‘I would gladly treat you like my children.

I would give you a pleasant land.

It is the most beautiful land any nation could have.’

I thought you would call me ‘Father.’

I hoped you would always follow me.

²⁰But you people are like a woman who is not faithful to her husband.

Israel, you have not been faithful to me,”

announces the Lord.

²¹A cry is heard on the bare hilltops.

The people of Israel are sobbing and praying.

That’s because their lives are so twisted.

They’ve forgotten the Lord their God.

²²“You have not been faithful,”

says the Lord.

“Return to me. I will heal you.

Then you will not turn away from me anymore.”

“Yes,” the people say. “We will come to you.

You are the Lord our God.

²³The gods we worship on the hills

and mountains are useless.

You are the Lord our God.

You are the only one who can save us.

²⁴From our earliest years shameful gods have eaten up

everything our people worked for.

They have eaten up our flocks and herds.

They’ve destroyed our sons and daughters.

²⁵Let us lie down in our shame.

Let our dishonor cover us.

You are the Lord our God. But we have sinned against you.

We and our people before us have sinned.

We haven’t obeyed you

from our earliest years until now.”

4“If you will return, Israel,

return to me,”

announces the Lord.

“Put the statues of your gods out of my sight.

I hate them.

Stop going down the wrong path.

²Take all of your oaths in my name.

Say, ‘You can be sure that the Lord is alive.’

Let all of your promises be truthful, fair and honest.

Then I will bless the nations.

And they will take delight in me.”

³Here is what the Lord is telling the people of Judah and Jerusalem. He says,

“Your hearts are as hard as a field

that has not been plowed.

So change your ways and produce good crops.

Do not plant seeds among thorns.

⁴People of Judah and Jerusalem, obey me.

Do not let your hearts be stubborn.

If you do, my anger will blaze out against you.

It will burn like fire because of the evil things you have done.

No one will be able to put it out.

Trouble Will Come From the North

⁵“Announce my message in Judah.

Tell it in Jerusalem.

Say, ‘Blow trumpets all through the land!’

Give a loud shout and say,

‘Gather together!

Let’s run to cities that have high walls around them!’

⁶Warn everyone to go to Zion!

Run for safety! Do not wait!

I am bringing trouble from the north.

Everything will be totally destroyed.”

⁷Lions have come out of their den.

Those who destroy nations have begun to march out.

They have left their place

to destroy your land completely.

Your towns will be broken to pieces.

No one will live in them.

⁸So put on black clothes.

Sob and cry over what has happened.

The Lord hasn’t turned

his burning anger away from us.

⁹“A dark day is coming,” announces the Lord.

“The king and his officials will lose hope.

The priests will be shocked.

And the prophets will be terrified.”

¹⁰Then I said, “You are my Lord and King. You have completely tricked the people of Judah and Jerusalem. You have told them, ‘You will have peace and rest.’ But swords are pointed at our throats.”

¹¹At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem will be warned. They will be told, “A hot and dry wind is coming, my people. It is blowing toward you from the bare hilltops in the desert. But it does not separate straw from grain. ¹²It is much too strong for that. The wind is coming from me. I am making my decision against you.”

¹³Look! Our enemies are approaching like the clouds.

Their chariots are coming like a strong wind.

Their horses are faster than eagles.

How terrible it will be for us!

We’ll be destroyed!

¹⁴People of Jerusalem, wash your sins from your hearts and be saved.

How long will you hold on to your evil thoughts?

¹⁵A voice is speaking all the way from the city of Dan.

From the hills of Ephraim it announces

that trouble is coming.

¹⁶“Tell the nations.

Warn Jerusalem.

Say, ‘An army will attack you.

It is coming from a land far away.

It will shout a war cry

against the cities of Judah.

¹⁷It will surround them like people who guard a field.

Judah has refused to obey me,’ ”

announces the Lord.

¹⁸“The army will attack you

because of your conduct and actions.

That is how you will be punished.

It will be so bitter!

It will cut deep down into your hearts!”

¹⁹I’m suffering! I’m really suffering!

I’m hurting badly.

My heart is suffering so much!

It’s pounding inside me.

I can’t keep silent.

I’ve heard the sound of trumpets.

I’ve heard the battle cry.

²⁰One trouble follows another.

The whole land is destroyed.

In an instant my tents are gone.

My home disappears in a moment.

²¹How long must I look at our enemy’s battle flag?

How long must I hear the sound of the trumpets?

²²The Lord says, “My people are foolish.

They do not know me.

They are children who do not have any sense.

They have no understanding at all.

They are skilled in doing what is evil.

They do not know how to do what is good.”

²³I looked at the earth.

It didn’t have any shape. And it was empty.

I looked at the sky.

Its light was gone.

²⁴I looked at the mountains.

They were shaking.

All of the hills were swaying.

²⁵I looked. And there weren’t any people.

Every bird in the sky had flown away.

²⁶I looked. And the fruitful land had become a desert.

All of its towns were destroyed.

The Lord had done all of that because of his burning anger.

²⁷The Lord says,

“The whole land will be destroyed.

But I will not destroy it completely.

²⁸So the earth will be filled with sadness.

The sky above will grow dark.

I have spoken, and I will not take pity on them.

I have made my decision, and I will not change my mind.”

²⁹People can hear the sound of horsemen.

Men who are armed with bows are coming.

The people in every town run away.

Some of them go into the bushes.

Others climb up among the rocks.

All of the towns are deserted.

No one is living in them.

³⁰What are you doing, you who are destroyed?

Why do you dress yourself in bright red clothes?

Why do you put on jewels of gold?

Why do you put makeup on your eyes?

You make yourself beautiful for no reason at all.

Your lovers hate you.

They are trying to kill you.

³¹I hear a cry like the cry of a woman having a baby.

I hear a groan like someone having her first child.

…