3:1 | “If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife, he may not take her back again.* Doing that would utterly defile the land.* But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods.* So what makes you think you can return to me?”* says the Lord. |
3:2 | “Look up at the hilltops and consider this.* You have had sex with other gods on every one of them.* You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert.* You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods.* |
3:3 | That is why the rains have been withheld, and the spring rains have not come. Yet in spite of this you are obstinate as a prostitute.* You refuse to be ashamed of what you have done. |
3:4 | Even now you say to me, ‘You are my father!* You have been my faithful companion ever since I was young. |
3:5 | You will not always be angry with me, will you? You will not be mad at me forever, will you?’* That is what you say, but you continually do all the evil that you can.”* |
3:6 | When Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done.* You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute to other gods.* |
3:7 | Yet even after she had done all that, I thought that she might come back to me.* But she did not. Her sister, unfaithful Judah, saw what she did.* |
3:8 | She also saw* that I gave wayward Israel her divorce papers and sent her away because of her adulterous worship of other gods.* Even after her unfaithful sister Judah had seen this,* she still was not afraid, and she too went and gave herself like a prostitute to other gods.* |
3:9 | Because she took her prostitution so lightly, she defiled the land* through her adulterous worship of gods made of wood and stone.* |
3:10 | In spite of all this,* Israel’s sister, unfaithful Judah, has not turned back to me with any sincerity; she has only pretended to do so,”* says the Lord. |
3:11 | Then the Lord said to me, “Under the circumstances, wayward Israel could even be considered less guilty than unfaithful Judah.* |
3:12 | “Go and shout this message to my people in the countries in the north.* Tell them, ‘Come back to me, wayward Israel,’ says the Lord. ‘I will not continue to look on you with displeasure.* For I am merciful,’ says the Lord. ‘I will not be angry with you forever. |
3:13 | However, you must confess that you have done wrong,* and that you have rebelled against the Lord your God. You must confess* that you have given yourself to* foreign gods under every green tree, and have not obeyed my commands,’ says the Lord. |
3:14 | “Come back to me, my wayward sons,” says the Lord, “for I am your true master.* If you do,* I will take one of you from each town and two of you from each family group, and I will bring you back to Zion. |
3:15 | I will give you leaders* who will be faithful to me.* They will lead you with knowledge and insight. |
3:16 | In those days, your population will greatly increase* in the land. At that time,” says the Lord, “people will no longer talk about having the ark* that contains the Lord’s covenant with us.* They will not call it to mind, remember it, or miss it. No, that will not be done any more!* |
3:17 | At that time the city of Jerusalem* will be called the Lord’s throne. All nations will gather there in Jerusalem to honor the Lord’s name.* They will no longer follow the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts.* |
3:18 | At that time* the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel will be reunited.* Together they will come back from a land in the north to the land that I gave to your ancestors as a permanent possession. ”* |
3:19 | “I thought to myself,* ‘Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son!* What a joy it would be for me to give* you a pleasant land, the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!’* I thought you would call me, ‘Father’* and would never cease being loyal to me.* |
3:20 | But, you have been unfaithful to me, nation of Israel,* like an unfaithful wife who has left her husband,”* says the Lord. |
3:21 | “A noise is heard on the hilltops. It is the sound of the people of Israel crying and pleading to their gods. Indeed they have followed sinful ways;* they have forgotten to be true to the Lord their God.* |
3:22 | Come back to me, you wayward people. I want to cure your waywardness.* Say,* ‘Here we are. We come to you because you are the Lord our God. |
3:23 | We know our noisy worship of false gods on the hills and mountains did not help us.* We know that the Lord our God is the only one who can deliver Israel.* |
3:24 | From earliest times our worship of that shameful god, Baal, has taken away* all that our ancestors* worked for. It has taken away our flocks and our herds, and even our sons and daughters. |
3:25 | Let us acknowledge* our shame. Let us bear the disgrace that we deserve.* For we have sinned against the Lord our God, both we and our ancestors. From earliest times to this very day we have not obeyed the Lord our God.’ |