Jeremiah 3
International Standard Version
God Contemplates Divorcing Israel
3 “When a man divorces his wife, she leaves him and
becomes another man’s wife,
will the first husband[a] return to her again?
The land would be deeply polluted, would it not?
Since you have committed fornication with many lovers,
would you now return to me?”
declares the Lord.
2 “Look up to the barren heights and see.
Is there any place[b] where you have not been ravished?
You have sat beside the road, waiting[c] for them[d]
like a nomad in the desert.
And you have polluted the land
with your fornication and your wickedness.
3 This is why the rain has been withheld
and there are no spring showers.
Yet you have a harlot’s look[e]
and you refuse to be ashamed.
4 Have you not just called out to me,
‘My father, you are the friend of my youth—
5 will he hold on to his anger forever,
will he persist in his wrath to the end?’
Look, you have spoken and done evil things,
and you have succeeded in it.”[f]
The Example of Samaria
6 In the time of King Josiah the Lord told me, “Have you seen what unfaithful Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she committed fornication there. 7 I thought,[g] ‘After she has done all these things, she will return to me.’ But she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw this. 8 I saw that even though I had sent unfaithful Israel away for all her adulteries and had given her a[h] divorce decree, her treacherous sister Judah didn’t fear, and she, too, committed adultery. 9 She took her fornication so lightly that she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.[i] 10 Yet in all this her treacherous sister Judah didn’t return to me with her whole heart, but rather deceptively,” declares the Lord.
A Call for Repentance
11 Then the Lord told me, “Unfaithful Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go, proclaim these words to the north, and say,
‘Return, unfaithful Israel,’
declares the Lord.
‘I won’t look on you in anger,
for I am gracious,’[j]
declares the Lord.
‘I won’t remain angry forever.
13 ‘Only acknowledge your iniquity,
that you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
and have scattered your favors to strangers
under every green tree.
But you haven’t obeyed me,’
declares the Lord.
14 “Return, unfaithful people,”[k] declares the Lord, “for I am your husband.[l] I’ll take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I’ll bring you to Zion. 15 I’ll give you shepherds[m] after my own heart, and they’ll shepherd you with knowledge and good sense.”
16 “And in those days when you increase in numbers and multiply in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord,’ and it won’t come to mind, and they won’t remember it or miss it, nor will it be made again. 17 At that time people will call Jerusalem, “The Throne of the Lord,” and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. They’ll no longer stubbornly follow their own evil desires.[n] 18 In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and together they’ll come to the land that I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.”
God’s Desire for His People
19 “I said,
‘How I wanted to treat you like children,
and give you a pleasant land,
the most beautiful inheritance of the nations.’
I said, ‘You will call me, my father,
and won’t turn back from following me.’
20 Instead, like an unfaithful wife leaves her husband,
so you have been unfaithful to me, house of Israel,”
declares the Lord.
Israel Cries for Help
21 “A voice is heard on the barren heights,
the weeping and pleading of the children of Israel
because they have perverted their way.
They have forgotten the Lord their God.”
God Calls for Repentance
22 “Turn back, unfaithful people,[o]
and I’ll heal your unfaithfulness.”
Israel Replies
“Look, we’re coming to you
because you are the Lord our God.
23 Truly the hills are a deception,[p]
and the mountains[q] are confusion.
Truly, in the Lord our God is Israel’s salvation.”
24 Since our youth the false gods have consumed
the products of our ancestors’ hard work,
their sheep and their cattle,
their sons and their daughters.
25 “Let us lie down in our shame,
and let our humiliation cover us,
because both we and our ancestors have sinned
against the Lord our God from our youth
until this present time.
We haven’t obeyed the Lord our God.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 3:1 Lit. he
- Jeremiah 3:2 The Heb. lacks Is there anyplace
- Jeremiah 3:2 The Heb. lacks waiting
- Jeremiah 3:2 I.e. as if waiting for a prostitute
- Jeremiah 3:3 Lit. forehead
- Jeremiah 3:5 The Heb. lacks in it
- Jeremiah 3:7 Lit. I said
- Jeremiah 3:8 The Heb. lacks a
- Jeremiah 3:9 I.e. the Canaanite fertility gods were represented by stones and trees.
- Jeremiah 3:12 I.e. characterized by gracious love
- Jeremiah 3:14 Or sons
- Jeremiah 3:14 Or master
- Jeremiah 3:15 I.e. leaders
- Jeremiah 3:17 Lit. follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts
- Jeremiah 3:22 Or sons
- Jeremiah 3:23 I.e. as a source of deliverance
- Jeremiah 3:23 I.e. where false gods were worshipped
Jeremiah 3
New King James Version
Israel Is Shameless
3 “They say, ‘If a man divorces his wife,
And she goes from him
And becomes another man’s,
(A)May he return to her again?’
Would not that (B)land be greatly polluted?
But you have (C)played the harlot with many lovers;
(D)Yet return to Me,” says the Lord.
2 “Lift up your eyes to (E)the desolate heights and see:
Where have you not [a]lain with men?
(F)By the road you have sat for them
Like an Arabian in the wilderness;
(G)And you have polluted the land
With your harlotries and your wickedness.
3 Therefore the (H)showers have been withheld,
And there has been no latter rain.
You have had a (I)harlot’s forehead;
You refuse to be ashamed.
4 Will you not from this time cry to Me,
‘My Father, You are (J)the guide of (K)my youth?
5 (L)Will He remain angry forever?
Will He keep it to the end?’
Behold, you have spoken and done evil things,
As you were able.”
A Call to Repentance
6 The Lord said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: “Have you seen what (M)backsliding Israel has done? She has (N)gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot. 7 (O)And I said, after she had done all these things, ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous (P)sister Judah saw it. 8 Then I saw that (Q)for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had (R)put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; (S)yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. 9 So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she (T)defiled the land and committed adultery with (U)stones and trees. 10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me (V)with her whole heart, but in pretense,” says the Lord.
11 Then the Lord said to me, (W)“Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go and proclaim these words toward (X)the north, and say:
‘Return, backsliding Israel,’ says the Lord;
‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you.
For I am (Y)merciful,’ says the Lord;
‘I will not remain angry forever.
13 (Z)Only acknowledge your iniquity,
That you have transgressed against the Lord your God,
And have (AA)scattered your [b]charms
To (AB)alien deities (AC)under every green tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the Lord.
14 “Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; (AD)“for I am married to you. I will take you, (AE)one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to (AF)Zion. 15 And I will give you (AG)shepherds according to My heart, who will (AH)feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16 “Then it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and (AI)increased in the land in those days,” says the Lord, “that they will say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ (AJ)It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made anymore.
17 “At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, (AK)to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. No more shall they (AL)follow[c] the dictates of their evil hearts.
18 “In those days (AM)the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of (AN)the north to (AO)the land that I have given as an inheritance to your fathers.
19 “But I said:
‘How can I put you among the children
And give you (AP)a pleasant land,
A beautiful heritage of the hosts of nations?’
“And I said:
‘You shall call Me, (AQ)“My Father,”
And not turn away from Me.’
20 Surely, as a wife treacherously departs from her [d]husband,
So (AR)have you dealt treacherously with Me,
O house of Israel,” says the Lord.
21 A voice was heard on (AS)the desolate heights,
Weeping and supplications of the children of Israel.
For they have perverted their way;
They have forgotten the Lord their God.
22 “Return, you backsliding children,
And I will (AT)heal your backslidings.”
“Indeed we do come to You,
For You are the Lord our God.
23 (AU)Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills,
And from the multitude of mountains;
(AV)Truly, in the Lord our God
Is the salvation of Israel.
24 (AW)For shame has devoured
The labor of our fathers from our youth—
Their flocks and their herds,
Their sons and their daughters.
25 We lie down in our shame,
And our [e]reproach covers us.
(AX)For we have sinned against the Lord our God,
We and our fathers,
From our youth even to this day,
And (AY)have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 3:2 Kt. been violated
- Jeremiah 3:13 Lit. ways
- Jeremiah 3:17 walk after the stubbornness or imagination
- Jeremiah 3:20 Lit. companion
- Jeremiah 3:25 disgrace
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
Copyright © 2004 by World Bible Translation Center
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
