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Jeremiah 3
Christian Standard Bible

Wages of Apostasy

3 If[a] a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him to marry another,
can he ever return to her?(A)
Wouldn’t such a land[b] become totally defiled?
But you!
You have prostituted yourself with many partners(B)—
can you return to me?(C)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
2 Look to the barren heights(D) and see.
Where have you not been immoral?
You sat waiting for them beside the highways(E)
like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land
with your prostitution and wickedness.(F)
3 This is why the showers haven’t come(G)—
why there has been no spring rain.
You have the brazen look(H) of a prostitute[c]
and refuse to be ashamed.(I)
4 Haven’t you recently called to me, “My Father!(J)
You were my friend in my youth.(K)
5 Will he bear a grudge forever?(L)
Will he be endlessly infuriated?”
This is what you have said,
but you have done the evil things
you are capable of.

Unfaithful Israel, Treacherous Judah

6 In the days of King Josiah the Lord asked me, “Have you seen what unfaithful Israel has done? She has ascended every high hill and gone under every green tree to prostitute herself there.(M) 7 I thought, ‘After she has done all these things, she will return to me.’(N) But she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah(O) saw it. 8 I[d] observed that it was because unfaithful Israel had committed adultery that I had sent her away and had given her a certificate of divorce.(P) Nevertheless, her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid but also went and prostituted herself.(Q) 9 Indifferent to[e] her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones(R) and trees.(S) 10 Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah didn’t return to me with all her heart(T)—only in pretense.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

11 The Lord announced to me, “Unfaithful Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.(U) 12 Go, proclaim these words to the north, and say,

‘Return, unfaithful Israel.(V)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will not look on you with anger,[f]
for I am unfailing in my love.(W)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will not be angry forever.(X)
13 Only acknowledge your guilt(Y)—
you have rebelled against the Lord your God.(Z)
You have scattered your favors to strangers
under every green tree(AA)
and have not obeyed me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

14 “‘Return, you faithless children(AB)—this is the Lord’s declaration—for I am your master,[g](AC) and I will take you,(AD) one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. 15 I will give you shepherds who are loyal to me,[h](AE) and they will shepherd you with knowledge and skill. 16 When you multiply and increase in the land,(AF) in those days—this is the Lord’s declaration—no one will say again, “The ark of the Lord’s covenant.”(AG) It will never come to mind, and no one will remember or miss it. Another one will not be made.[i] 17 At that time Jerusalem will be called The Lord’s Throne,(AH) and all the nations will be gathered to it,(AI) to the name of the Lord in Jerusalem.(AJ) They will cease to follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. 18 In those days the house of Judah will join with the house of Israel,(AK) and they will come together from the land of the north to the land I have given your ancestors to inherit.’”(AL)

True Repentance

19 I thought, “How I long to make you my sons
and give you a desirable land,
the most beautiful inheritance(AM) of all the nations.”
I thought, “You will call me ‘My Father’
and never turn away from me.”
20 However, as a woman may betray her lover,[j]
so you have betrayed(AN) me, house of Israel.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

21 A sound is heard on the barren heights:
the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy,
for they have perverted their way;
they have forgotten the Lord their God.(AO)

22 Return, you faithless children.
I will heal your unfaithfulness.(AP)
“Here we are, coming to you,
for you are the Lord our God.

23 Surely, falsehood comes from the hills,
commotion from the mountains,(AQ)
but the salvation of Israel
is only in the Lord our God.(AR)
24 From the time of our youth
the shameful one[k] has consumed
what our ancestors have worked for—
their flocks and their herds,
their sons and their daughters.
25 Let us lie down in our shame;
let our disgrace cover us.(AS)
We have sinned against the Lord our God,(AT)
both we and our ancestors,
from the time of our youth even to this day.(AU)
We have not obeyed the Lord our God.”

Footnotes

  1. 3:1 One Hb ms, LXX, Syr; other Hb mss read Saying: If
  2. 3:1 LXX reads woman
  3. 3:3 Lit have a prostitute’s forehead
  4. 3:8 One Hb ms, Syr read She
  5. 3:9 Lit From the lightness of
  6. 3:12 Lit not cause my face to fall on you
  7. 3:14 Or husband
  8. 3:15 Lit shepherds according to my heart
  9. 3:16 Or It will no longer be done
  10. 3:20 Lit friend
  11. 3:24 = Baal
Close LEB

Jeremiah 3
Lexham English Bible

3 A saying:[a] ‘Look, if a man divorces his wife,
    and she goes from him and she becomes another man’s wife,[b]
    will he return to her again?’
Will not that land be greatly defiled?
And you have prostituted yourself with many lovers,
    would you now return to me?” declares[c] Yahweh.
2 “Lift up your eyes at the barren heights,
    and see where you have not been ravished.
Beside the roads you sat for them like an Arab in the desert,[d]
    and you have defiled the land
with your fornication
    and with your wickedness.
3 Therefore rain showers have been withheld,
    and the spring rain has not come.
Yet you have[e] the forehead of a woman prostitute,
    you refuse to be ashamed.
4 Have you not just now called to me,
    ‘My father, you are the close friend of my youth?
5 Will he be angry forever?[f]
    Will he maintain it always’?[g]
Look, you have spoken,
    but you have done all the evil that you could.”[h]

Yahweh Gives Israel a Letter of Divorce

6 Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah, the king, “Have you seen what apostate[i] Israel has done? She has gone on every high hill and under every leafy tree and she has prostituted herself there. 7 And I thought, ‘After her doing all these things to me she will return,’ but she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.[j] 8 And I saw that for this very reason, that[k] on account of apostate[l] Israel committing adultery I divorced her and gave the letter of divorce to her. Yet her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid and she went and prostituted herself also. 9 And it was because of the frivolity of her fornication that she defiled the land and committed adultery with the stone and with the tree. 10 Yet even in all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only[m] in pretense,”[n] declares[o] Yahweh.

A Call for Repentance

11 Then Yahweh said to me, “Apostate[p] Israel has proved herself more upright[q] than treacherous Judah. 12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say,

‘Return, apostate[r] Israel,’ declares[s] Yahweh.
‘I will not cause my anger[t] to fall on you.
For I am loyal,’ declares[u] Yahweh.
‘I will not be angry forever.[v]
13 Only acknowledge your guilt,
that against Yahweh your God you have rebelled,
and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every leafy tree,
and you have not obeyed my voice,’ declares[w] Yahweh.”

14 “Return, apostate[x] children,” declares[y] Yahweh. “For I am your master,[z] and I will take you one from a city and two from a clan,[aa] and I will bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart and they will feed you knowledge and insight. 16 And it will be when you have multiplied and become fruitful in the land in those days,” declares[ab] Yahweh, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of Yahweh.’ And it will not come to mind,[ac] nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it,[ad] nor will it be made again. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of Yahweh,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of Yahweh, to Jerusalem, and they will no longer go after the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18 In those days the house of Judah will walk along with the house of Israel and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave as an inheritance to your ancestors.[ae]

19 Then I thought, ‘How I would set you among the children,
    and I would give you a land of desire,
an inheritance of the glory of the hosts of nations.’
And I thought, ‘You would call me, “My father,”
    and you would not turn back from behind[af] me.’
20 However, as a wife departs treacherously from her lover,
    so you have dealt treacherously with me,
O house of Israel,” declares[ag] Yahweh.
21 “A voice is heard on the barren heights,
    the weeping of the pleas for mercy of the children of Israel,
because they have perverted their way,
    they have forgotten Yahweh their God.
22 Return, O apostate[ah] children,
    I will heal your backsliding.
‘Look, we come to you,
    for you are Yahweh our God.
23 Surely, an illusion comes from the hills,
    the turmoil on the mountains.
Surely, in Yahweh our God
    is the salvation of Israel.
24 But the shameful thing has devoured
    the labor of our ancestors[ai] from our youth,
their flocks, and their cattle,
    their sons and their daughters.
25 Let us lie down in our shame,
    and let our disgrace cover us.
For against Yahweh our God we have sinned,
    we and our ancestors,[aj]
from our youth and until this day.
    and we have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God.’

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 3:1 Literally “to say”
  2. Jeremiah 3:1 Literally “and she becomes to a man another”
  3. Jeremiah 3:1 Literally “a declaration of”
  4. Jeremiah 3:2 Or “wilderness”
  5. Jeremiah 3:3 Literally “it is for you”
  6. Jeremiah 3:5 Literally “to eternity”
  7. Jeremiah 3:5 Literally “to duration”
  8. Jeremiah 3:5 Literally “you have done the evil and you were able”
  9. Jeremiah 3:6 Or “unfaithful”
  10. Jeremiah 3:7 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  11. Jeremiah 3:8 Literally “because of all”
  12. Jeremiah 3:8 Or “unfaithful”
  13. Jeremiah 3:10 Literally “but if”
  14. Jeremiah 3:10 Or “deception”
  15. Jeremiah 3:10 Literally “a declaration of”
  16. Jeremiah 3:11 Or “unfaithful”
  17. Jeremiah 3:11 Or “righteous”
  18. Jeremiah 3:12 Or “unfaithful”
  19. Jeremiah 3:12 Literally “a declaration of”
  20. Jeremiah 3:12 Literally “faces”
  21. Jeremiah 3:12 Literally “a declaration of”
  22. Jeremiah 3:12 Literally “to eternity”
  23. Jeremiah 3:13 Literally “a declaration of”
  24. Jeremiah 3:14 Or “unfaithful”
  25. Jeremiah 3:14 Literally “a declaration of”
  26. Jeremiah 3:14 Literally “I rule over among you”
  27. Jeremiah 3:14 Or “family”
  28. Jeremiah 3:16 Literally “a declaration of”
  29. Jeremiah 3:16 Literally “it shall not go up on heart”
  30. Jeremiah 3:16 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  31. Jeremiah 3:18 Or “fathers”
  32. Jeremiah 3:19 Or “following”
  33. Jeremiah 3:20 Literally “a declaration of”
  34. Jeremiah 3:22 Or “unfaithful”
  35. Jeremiah 3:24 Or “fathers”
  36. Jeremiah 3:25 Or “fathers”
Next
Jeremiah 2
Jeremiah 4
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