Jeremiah 3:1–5:31
3 “If a man divorcesd his wife
and she leaves him and marries another man,
should he return to her again?
Would not the land be completely defiled?e
But you have lived as a prostitute with many loversf—
would you now return to me?”g
declares the Lord.
2 “Look up to the barren heightsh and see.
Is there any place where you have not been ravished?
By the roadsidei you sat waiting for lovers,
sat like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the landj
with your prostitutionk and wickedness.
3 Therefore the showers have been withheld,l
and no spring rainsm have fallen.
Yet you have the brazenn look of a prostitute;
you refuse to blush with shame.o
4 Have you not just called to me:
‘My Father,p my friend from my youth,q
5 will you always be angry?r
Will your wrath continue forever?’
This is how you talk,
but you do all the evil you can.”
6 During the reign of King Josiah,s the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what faithlesst Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading treeu and has committed adulteryv there. 7 I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sisterw Judah saw it.x 8 I gave faithless Israely her certificate of divorcez and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear;a she also went out and committed adultery. 9 Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the landb and committed adulteryc with stoned and wood.e 10 In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not returnf to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,g” declares the Lord.h
11 The Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteousi than unfaithfulj Judah.k 12 Go, proclaim this message toward the north:l
“ ‘Return,m faithlessn Israel,’ declares the Lord,
‘I will frown on you no longer,
for I am faithful,’o declares the Lord,
‘I will not be angryp forever.
13 Only acknowledgeq your guilt—
you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
you have scattered your favors to foreign godsr
under every spreading tree,s
and have not obeyedt me,’ ”
declares the Lord.
14 “Return,u faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband.v I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherdsw after my own heart,x who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. 16 In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The arky of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered;z it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Thronea of the Lord, and all nationsb will gather in Jerusalem to honorc the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.d 18 In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel,e and togetherf they will come from a northerng land to the landh I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.
“ ‘How gladly would I treat you like my children
and give you a pleasant land,i
the most beautiful inheritancej of any nation.’
I thought you would call me ‘Father’k
and not turn away from following me.
20 But like a woman unfaithful to her husband,
so you, Israel, have been unfaithfull to me,”
declares the Lord.
21 A cry is heard on the barren heights,m
the weepingn and pleading of the people of Israel,
because they have perverted their ways
and have forgotteno the Lord their God.
22 “Return,p faithless people;
I will cureq you of backsliding.”r
“Yes, we will come to you,
for you are the Lord our God.
23 Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hillss
and mountains is a deception;
surely in the Lord our God
is the salvationt of Israel.
24 From our youth shamefulu gods have consumed
the fruits of our ancestors’ labor—
their flocks and herds,
their sons and daughters.
25 Let us lie down in our shame,v
and let our disgrace cover us.
We have sinnedw against the Lord our God,
both we and our ancestors;x
from our youthy till this day
we have not obeyedz the Lord our God.”
4 “If you, Israel, will return,a
then return to me,”
declares the Lord.
“If you put your detestable idolsb out of my sight
and no longer go astray,
2 and if in a truthful, just and righteous way
you swear,c ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’d
then the nations will invoke blessingse by him
and in him they will boast.f”
3 This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:
“Break up your unplowed groundg
and do not sow among thorns.h
4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
circumcise your hearts,i
you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
or my wrathj will flare up and burn like firek
because of the evill you have done—
burn with no one to quenchm it.
5 “Announce in Judah and proclaimn in Jerusalem and say:
‘Sound the trumpeto throughout the land!’
Cry aloud and say:
‘Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities!’p
6 Raise the signalq to go to Zion!
Flee for safety without delay!
For I am bringing disasterr from the north,s
even terrible destruction.”
7 A liont has come out of his lair;u
a destroyerv of nations has set out.
He has left his place
to lay wastew your land.
Your towns will lie in ruinsx
without inhabitant.
8 So put on sackcloth,y
lamentz and wail,
for the fierce angera of the Lord
has not turned away from us.
9 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“the king and the officials will lose heart,b
the priests will be horrified,
and the prophets will be appalled.”c
10 Then I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! How completely you have deceivedd this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’e when the sword is at our throats!”
11 At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, “A scorching windf from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; 12 a windg too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgmentsh against them.”
13 Look! He advances like the clouds,i
his chariotsj come like a whirlwind,k
his horsesl are swifter than eagles.m
Woe to us! We are ruined!n
14 Jerusalem, washo the evil from your heart and be saved.p
How longq will you harbor wicked thoughts?
15 A voice is announcing from Dan,r
proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.s
proclaim concerning Jerusalem:
‘A besieging army is coming from a distant land,t
raising a war cryu against the cities of Judah.v
17 They surroundw her like men guarding a field,
because she has rebelledx against me,’ ”
declares the Lord.
18 “Your own conduct and actionsy
have brought this on you.z
This is your punishment.
How bittera it is!
How it pierces to the heart!”
19 Oh, my anguish, my anguish!b
I writhe in pain.c
Oh, the agony of my heart!
My heart poundsd within me,
I cannot keep silent.e
For I have heard the sound of the trumpet;f
I have heard the battle cry.g
20 Disaster follows disaster;h
the whole land lies in ruins.i
In an instant my tentsj are destroyed,
my shelter in a moment.
21 How long must I see the battle standardk
and hear the sound of the trumpet?l
22 “My people are fools;m
they do not know me.n
They are senseless children;
they have no understanding.o
They are skilled in doing evil;p
they know not how to do good.”q
and it was formless and empty;r
and at the heavens,
and their lights was gone.
and they were quaking;t
all the hills were swaying.
25 I looked, and there were no people;
every bird in the sky had flown away.u
26 I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;v
all its towns lay in ruinsw
before the Lord, before his fierce anger.x
27 This is what the Lord says:
“The whole land will be ruined,y
though I will not destroyz it completely.
28 Therefore the earth will mourna
and the heavens above grow dark,b
because I have spoken and will not relent,c
I have decided and will not turn back.d”
29 At the sound of horsemen and archerse
every town takes to flight.f
Some go into the thickets;
some climb up among the rocks.g
All the towns are deserted;h
no one lives in them.
30 What are you doing,i you devastated one?
Why dress yourself in scarlet
and put on jewelsj of gold?
Why highlight your eyes with makeup?k
You adorn yourself in vain.
Your loversl despise you;
they want to kill you.m
31 I hear a cry as of a woman in labor,n
a groan as of one bearing her first child—
the cry of Daughter Ziono gasping for breath,p
stretching out her handsq and saying,
“Alas! I am fainting;
my life is given over to murderers.”r
5 “Go up and downs the streets of Jerusalem,
look around and consider,t
search through her squares.
If you can find but one personu
who deals honestlyv and seeks the truth,
I will forgivew this city.
2 Although they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’x
still they are swearing falsely.y”
3 Lord, do not your eyesz look for truth?
You strucka them, but they felt no pain;
you crushed them, but they refused correction.b
They made their faces harder than stonec
and refused to repent.d
4 I thought, “These are only the poor;
they are foolish,e
for they do not knowf the way of the Lord,
the requirements of their God.
5 So I will go to the leadersg
and speak to them;
surely they know the way of the Lord,
the requirements of their God.”
But with one accord they too had broken off the yoke
and torn off the bonds.h
6 Therefore a lion from the foresti will attack them,
a wolf from the desert will ravagej them,
a leopardk will lie in wait near their towns
to tear to pieces any who venture out,
for their rebellion is great
and their backslidings many.l
Your children have forsaken me
and swornm by gods that are not gods.n
I supplied all their needs,
yet they committed adulteryo
and thronged to the houses of prostitutes.p
8 They are well-fed, lusty stallions,
each neighing for another man’s wife.q
9 Should I not punish them for this?”r
…