3 “If a man divorces^(A) his wife
    and she leaves him and marries another man,
should he return to her again?
    Would not the land be completely defiled?^(B)
But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers^(C)—
    would you now return to me?”^(D)
declares the Lord.
² “Look up to the barren heights^(E) and see.
    Is there any place where you have not been ravished?
By the roadside^(F) you sat waiting for lovers,
    sat like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land^(G)
    with your prostitution^(H) and wickedness.
³ Therefore the showers have been withheld,^(I)
    and no spring rains^(J) have fallen.
Yet you have the brazen^(K) look of a prostitute;
    you refuse to blush with shame.^(L)
4 Have you not just called to me:
    ‘My Father,^(M) my friend from my youth,^(N)
5 will you always be angry?^(O)
    Will your wrath continue forever?’
This is how you talk,
    but you do all the evil you can.”

“‘Return,^(AJ) faithless^(AK) Israel,’ declares the Lord,
    ‘I will frown on you no longer,
for I am faithful,’^(AL) declares the Lord,
    ‘I will not be angry^(AM) forever.
¹³ Only acknowledge^(AN) your guilt—
    you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
you have scattered your favors to foreign gods^(AO)
    under every spreading tree,^(AP)
    and have not obeyed^(AQ) me,’”
declares the Lord.

“‘How gladly would I treat you like my children
    and give you a pleasant land,^(BF)
    the most beautiful inheritance^(BG) of any nation.’
I thought you would call me ‘Father’^(BH)
    and not turn away from following me.
²⁰ But like a woman unfaithful to her husband,
    so you, Israel, have been unfaithful^(BI) to me,”
declares the Lord.

²¹ A cry is heard on the barren heights,^(BJ)
    the weeping^(BK) and pleading of the people of Israel,
because they have perverted their ways
    and have forgotten^(BL) the Lord their God.

²² “Return,^(BM) faithless people;
    I will cure^(BN) you of backsliding.”^(BO)

“Yes, we will come to you,
    for you are the Lord our God.
²³ Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills^(BP)
    and mountains is a deception;
surely in the Lord our God
    is the salvation^(BQ) of Israel.
²⁴ From our youth shameful^(BR) 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,^(BS)
    and let our disgrace cover us.
We have sinned^(BT) against the Lord our God,
    both we and our ancestors;^(BU)
from our youth^(BV) till this day
    we have not obeyed^(BW) the Lord our God.”

22 A good name is more desirable than great riches;
    to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.^(A)

² Rich and poor have this in common:
    The Lord is the Maker of them all.^(B)

³ The prudent see danger and take refuge,^(C)
    but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.^(D)

⁴ Humility is the fear of the Lord;
    its wages are riches and honor^(E) and life.^(F)

⁵ In the paths of the wicked are snares and pitfalls,^(G)
    but those who would preserve their life stay far from them.

⁶ Start^(H) children off on the way they should go,^(I)
    and even when they are old they will not turn from it.^(J)

⁷ The rich rule over the poor,
    and the borrower is slave to the lender.

⁸ Whoever sows injustice reaps calamity,^(K)
    and the rod they wield in fury will be broken.^(L)

⁹ The generous will themselves be blessed,^(M)
    for they share their food with the poor.^(N)

¹⁰ Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife;
    quarrels and insults are ended.^(O)

¹¹ One who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace
    will have the king for a friend.^(P)

¹² The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge,
    but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful.

¹³ The sluggard says, “There’s a lion outside!^(Q)
    I’ll be killed in the public square!”

¹⁴ The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit;^(R)
    a man who is under the Lord’s wrath falls into it.^(S)

¹⁵ Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
    but the rod of discipline will drive it far away.^(T)

¹⁶ One who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth
    and one who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty.

⁵ Remember the wonders^(I) he has done,
    his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,^(J)
6 you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,^(K)
    his chosen^(L) ones, the children of Jacob.
⁷ He is the Lord our God;
    his judgments are in all the earth.

⁸ He remembers his covenant^(M) forever,
    the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
⁹ the covenant he made with Abraham,^(N)
    the oath he swore to Isaac.
¹⁰ He confirmed it^(O) to Jacob as a decree,
    to Israel as an everlasting covenant:^(P)
11 “To you I will give the land of Canaan^(Q)
    as the portion you will inherit.”^(R)

¹² When they were but few in number,^(S)
    few indeed, and strangers in it,^(T)
13 they wandered from nation to nation,^(U)
    from one kingdom to another.
¹⁴ He allowed no one to oppress^(V) them;
    for their sake he rebuked kings:^(W)
15 “Do not touch^(X) my anointed ones;
    do my prophets^(Y) no harm.”

¹⁶ He called down famine^(Z) on the land
    and destroyed all their supplies of food;
¹⁷ and he sent a man before them—
    Joseph, sold as a slave.^(AA)
18 They bruised his feet with shackles,^(AB)
    his neck was put in irons,
¹⁹ till what he foretold^(AC) came to pass,
    till the word^(AD) of the Lord proved him true.
²⁰ The king sent and released him,
    the ruler of peoples set him free.^(AE)
21 He made him master of his household,
    ruler over all he possessed,
²² to instruct his princes^(AF) as he pleased
    and teach his elders wisdom.^(AG)