Jeremiah 3:6-4:31
Legacy Standard Bible
Faithless Israel Called to Repentance
6 Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She (A)went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there. 7 (B)I said, ‘After she has done all these things, she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her (C)treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and (D)given her a certificate of divorce, yet her (E)treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also. 9 So it was, because of the lightness of her harlotry, that she (F)polluted the land and committed adultery with (G)stones and trees. 10 Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in (H)lying,” declares Yahweh.
11 And Yahweh said to me, “(I)Faithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go and call out these words toward the north and say,
‘[a](J)Return, faithless Israel,’ declares Yahweh;
‘(K)I will not [b]look upon you in anger.
For I am (L)One of lovingkindness,’ declares Yahweh;
‘I will not be angry forever.
13 Only [c](M)acknowledge your iniquity,
That you have transgressed against Yahweh your God
And have (N)scattered your ways of harlotry to the strangers (O)under every green tree,
And you have not listened to My voice,’ declares Yahweh.
14 ‘[d]Return, O faithless sons,’ declares Yahweh;
‘For I am a (P)master to you,
And I will take you one from a city and two from a family,
And (Q)I will bring you to Zion.’
15 “Then I will give you (R)shepherds after My own heart, who will [e](S)shepherd you on knowledge and understanding. 16 It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and fruitful in the land,” declares Yahweh, “they will (T)no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of Yahweh.’ And it will not come upon the heart, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The (U)Throne of Yahweh,’ and (V)all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the (W)name of Yahweh; nor will they (X)walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18 (Y)In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together (Z)from the land of the north to the (AA)land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.
19 “Then I said,
‘How I would set you among [f]My sons
And give you a pleasant land,
The most (AB)beautiful inheritance of the nations!’
And I said, ‘You shall call Me, (AC)“My Father,”
And not turn away from following Me.’
20 Surely, as a woman treacherously departs from her [g]lover,
So you have (AD)dealt treacherously with Me,
O house of Israel,” declares Yahweh.
21 A voice is heard on the (AE)bare heights,
The weeping and the supplications of the sons of Israel;
Because they have perverted their way,
They have (AF)forgotten Yahweh their God.
22 [h]“Return, O faithless sons;
(AG)I will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to You,
For You are Yahweh our God.
23 Surely, (AH)the hills are a lie,
A tumult on the mountains.
Surely in (AI)Yahweh our God
Is the salvation of Israel.
24 “But (AJ)the shameful thing has devoured the labor of our fathers since our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 Let us lie down in our (AK)shame, and let our dishonor cover us; for we have sinned against Yahweh our God, we and our fathers, (AL)from our youth even to this day. And we have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God.”
Yahweh Calls Israel to Return to Him
4 “If you will (AM)return, O Israel,” declares Yahweh,
“Then you should return to Me.
And (AN)if you will put away your detested things from My presence
And will not waver
2 And you will (AO)swear, ‘As Yahweh lives,’
(AP)In truth, in justice, and in righteousness;
Then the (AQ)nations will [i]be blessed in Him,
And (AR)in Him they will boast.”
3 For thus says Yahweh to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem,
“[j](AS)Break up your fallow ground,
And (AT)do not sow among thorns.
4 (AU)Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh
And remove the foreskins of your heart,
Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Lest My (AV)wrath go forth like fire
And burn with (AW)none to quench it
Because of the evil of your deeds.”
Evil from the North
5 Declare in Judah and make it heard in Jerusalem and say,
“(AX)Blow the trumpet in the land;
Call out, make your voice full, and say,
‘(AY)Gather yourselves, and let us go
Into the fortified cities.’
6 Lift up a (AZ)standard toward Zion!
Seek safety, do not stand still,
For I am bringing (BA)evil from the north,
And great destruction.
7 A (BB)lion has gone up from his thicket,
And a (BC)destroyer of nations has set out;
He has gone out from his place
To (BD)make your land a desolation.
Your cities will be turned into ruins
Without inhabitant.
8 For this, (BE)I gird myself with sackcloth,
Lament and wail;
For the (BF)burning anger of Yahweh
Has not turned back from us.”
9 “It will be in that day,” declares Yahweh, “that the (BG)heart of the king and the heart of the princes will perish; and the priests will be appalled, and the (BH)prophets will be astonished.”
10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Surely You have utterly (BI)deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘(BJ)You will have peace’; whereas a sword touches the [k]throat.”
11 In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A [l](BK)scorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness along the way of the daughter of My people—not to winnow and not to cleanse, 12 a wind too full for these things—will come [m]for My purpose; now I will also speak judgments against them.
13 Behold, he (BL)goes up like clouds,
And his (BM)chariots like the whirlwind;
His horses are (BN)swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for (BO)we are devastated!”
14 Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem,
That you may be saved.
How long will your (BP)wicked thoughts
Lodge within you?
15 For a voice declares from (BQ)Dan,
And makes wickedness heard from Mount Ephraim.
16 “Make mention of it to the nations, saying, ‘Behold!’
Make it heard over Jerusalem,
‘Besiegers come from a (BR)far country,
And (BS)give forth their voices against the cities of Judah.
17 Like watchmen of a field they are (BT)against her round about
Because she has (BU)rebelled against Me,’ declares Yahweh.
18 Your (BV)ways and your deeds
Have done these things to you.
This is your evil. How (BW)bitter!
How it has touched your heart!”
Anguish over Judah’s Desolation
19 (BX)My [n]soul, my [o]soul! I am in anguish! [p]Oh, my heart!
My (BY)heart is pounding in me;
I cannot be silent
Because [q]you have heard, O my soul,
The (BZ)sound of the trumpet,
The shout of war.
20 (CA)Destruction upon destruction is called out,
For the (CB)whole land is devastated;
Suddenly my (CC)tents are devastated,
My curtains in an instant.
21 How long must I see the standard
And hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “(CD)For My people are ignorant fools,
They know Me not;
They are simpleminded children
And have no understanding.
They are wise to (CE)do evil,
But to do good they do not know.”
23 I saw on the earth, and behold, it was [r](CF)formless and void;
And to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I saw on the mountains, and behold, they were (CG)quaking,
And all the hills [s]moved to and fro.
25 I saw, and behold, there was no man,
And all the (CH)birds of the sky had fled.
26 I saw, and behold, [t]the (CI)fruitful orchard was a wilderness,
And all its cities were torn down
Before Yahweh, before His burning anger.
27 For thus says Yahweh,
“The (CJ)whole land shall be a desolation,
Yet I will (CK)not execute a complete destruction.
28 For this the (CL)earth shall mourn
And the (CM)heavens above be dark
Because I have (CN)spoken; I have purposed,
And I will not [u]relent, nor will I turn from it.”
29 At the sound of the horseman and bowman (CO)every city flees;
They (CP)go into the thickets and climb up among the rocks;
(CQ)Every city is forsaken,
And no man inhabits them.
30 And you, O devastated one, (CR)what will you do?
Although you dress in scarlet,
Although you decorate yourself with ornaments of gold,
Although you (CS)enlarge your eyes with paint,
In vain you make yourself beautiful.
Your [v](CT)lovers despise you;
They seek your life.
31 For I heard a sound as of a woman in labor pains,
The distress as of one giving birth to her first child,
The sound of the daughter of Zion (CU)gasping for breath,
(CV)Stretching out her [w]hands, saying,
“Ah, woe is me, for my soul faints before murderers.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 3:12 Or Return, O Israel, who has turned away
- Jeremiah 3:12 Lit cause My countenance to fall upon you
- Jeremiah 3:13 Lit know
- Jeremiah 3:14 Or Return, O sons, who have turned away
- Jeremiah 3:15 Or feed
- Jeremiah 3:19 Lit the
- Jeremiah 3:20 Or companion
- Jeremiah 3:22 Or Return, O sons, who have turned away
- Jeremiah 4:2 Or experience blessing repeatedly, bless themselves
- Jeremiah 4:3 Lit Plow for yourselves plowed ground
- Jeremiah 4:10 Or life
- Jeremiah 4:11 Lit shimmering
- Jeremiah 4:12 Lit for Me
- Jeremiah 4:19 Lit inward parts
- Jeremiah 4:19 Lit inward parts
- Jeremiah 4:19 Lit The walls of my heart
- Jeremiah 4:19 Or I, my soul, heard
- Jeremiah 4:23 Or a waste and emptiness
- Jeremiah 4:24 Lit moved lightly
- Jeremiah 4:26 Or Carmel
- Jeremiah 4:28 Or regret, cf. 1 Sam 15:11, 29, 3
- Jeremiah 4:30 Lit paramours
- Jeremiah 4:31 Lit palms
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