3 See what great love^(A) the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!^(B) And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.^{(C) 2} Dear friends,^(D) now we are children of God,^(E) and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,^[a](F) we shall be like him,^(G) for we shall see him as he is.^{(H) 3} All who have this hope in him purify themselves,^(I) just as he is pure.^(J)

¹⁴ “Return,^(A) faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband.^(B) I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. ¹⁵ Then I will give you shepherds^(C) after my own heart,^(D) 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 ark^(E) of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered;^(F) it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. ¹⁷ At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne^(G) of the Lord, and all nations^(H) will gather in Jerusalem to honor^(I) the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.^{(J) 18} In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel,^(K) and together^(L) they will come from a northern^(M) land to the land^(N) I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.

¹⁹ “I myself said,