Jeremiah 3

3“If a man divorces^d 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 lovers^f—

would you now return to me?”^g

declares the Lord.

²“Look up to the barren heights^h 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 land^j

with your prostitution^k and wickedness.

³Therefore the showers have been withheld,^l

and no spring rains^m have fallen.

Yet you have the brazenⁿ look of a prostitute;

you refuse to blush with shame.^o

⁴Have you not just called to me:

‘My Father,^p my friend from my youth,^q

⁵will you always be angry?^r

Will your wrath continue forever?’

This is how you talk,

but you do all the evil you can.”

Unfaithful Israel

⁶During the reign of King Josiah,^s the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what faithless^t Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree^u and has committed adultery^v there. ⁷I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister^w Judah saw it.^{x 8}I gave faithless Israel^y her certificate of divorce^z 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. ⁹Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land^b and committed adultery^c with stone^d and wood.^{e 10}In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return^f to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,^g” declares the Lord.^h

¹¹The Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteousⁱ than unfaithful^j 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 angry^p forever.

¹³Only acknowledge^q your guilt—

you have rebelled against the Lord your God,

you have scattered your favors to foreign gods^r

under every spreading tree,^s

and have not obeyed^t 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. ¹⁵Then I will give you shepherds^w after my own heart,^x who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. ¹⁶In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The ark^y 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. ¹⁷At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne^a of the Lord, and all nations^b will gather in Jerusalem to honor^c 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 together^f they will come from a northern^g land to the land^h I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.

¹⁹“I myself said,

“ ‘How gladly would I treat you like my children

and give you a pleasant land,ⁱ

the most beautiful inheritance^j of any nation.’

I thought you would call me ‘Father’^k

and not turn away from following me.

²⁰But like a woman unfaithful to her husband,

so you, Israel, have been unfaithful^l to me,”

declares the Lord.

²¹A 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 forgotten^o the Lord their God.

²²“Return,^p faithless people;

I will cure^q you of backsliding.”^r

“Yes, we will come to you,

for you are the Lord our God.

²³Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills^s

and mountains is a deception;

surely in the Lord our God

is the salvation^t of Israel.

²⁴From our youth shameful^u gods have consumed

the fruits of our ancestors’ labor—

their flocks and herds,

their sons and daughters.

²⁵Let us lie down in our shame,^v

and let our disgrace cover us.

We have sinned^w against the Lord our God,

both we and our ancestors;^x

from our youth^y till this day

we have not obeyed^z the Lord our God.”