Jeremiah
3:1 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become
another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be
greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet
return again to me, saith the LORD.
3:2 Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not
been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in
the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and
with thy wickedness.
3:3 Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no
latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be
ashamed.
3:4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide
of my youth?
3:5 Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold,
thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.
3:6 The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou
seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every
high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the
harlot.
3:7 And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But
she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
3:8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed
adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her
treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot
also.
3:9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she
defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
3:10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto
me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
3:11 And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself
more than treacherous Judah.
3:12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou
backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to
fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep
anger for ever.
3:13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the
LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every
green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
3:14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you:
and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring
you to Zion:
3:15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed
you with knowledge and understanding.
3:16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the
land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of
the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall
they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be
done any more.
3:17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all
the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to
Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of
their evil heart.
3:18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel,
and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land
that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.
3:19 But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a
pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said,
Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.
3:20 Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye
dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.
3:21 A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the
children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have
forgotten the LORD their God.
3:22 Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.
Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.
3:23 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the
multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of
Israel.
3:24 For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their
flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
3:25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have
sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even
unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.
