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
耶利米书 3
Chinese New Version (Traditional)
以色列行惡不忠
3 耶和華說：“人若是休妻，
妻子離開了他，
又嫁了別人，
前夫怎能與她復合呢？
如果復合，那地不是大大玷污了嗎？
你曾與許多情人行淫，
還想歸向我。”
這是耶和華的宣告。
2 “你向光禿的高岡舉目看看，
哪裡沒有你的淫跡？
你坐在路邊等候情人，
像阿拉伯人在曠野埋伏一樣。
你以淫亂和邪惡，
把這地玷污了。
3 所以甘霖停止，
春雨不降；
你還是一副妓女的面孔（“面孔”原文作“額”），
不顧羞恥。
4 你剛剛不是還呼叫我：‘我父啊！
你是我年輕時的良伴；
5 耶和華怎會永遠懷怒，
常存憤恨呢？’
你雖然這樣說了，
還是盡力去作惡。”
猶大與以色列行淫不忠
6 約西亞王在位的日子，耶和華對我說：“背道的以色列所作的，她怎樣走上各高山，在每棵繁茂的樹下行淫，你看見了沒有？ 7 我以為她作了這些事以後，就必回轉過來，可是她沒有回轉。她詭詐的妹妹猶大也看見了。 8 因背道的以色列犯了淫亂，我就給她休書，把她休了。我看見她詭詐的妹妹猶大還是不懼怕，照樣行淫。 9 因以色列把自己的淫行視作等閒，去與石頭木頭行淫，就把這地玷污了。 10 雖然這樣，她詭詐的妹妹猶大還沒有全心歸向我，只是假意地歸我。”這是耶和華的宣告。
悔改蒙恩
11 耶和華對我說：“背道的以色列，比詭詐的猶大還顯得正義。 12 你去，把這些話向北方宣告，說：
‘背道的以色列啊，回轉吧！’
這是耶和華的宣告。
‘我必不向你們變臉，
因為我是慈愛的，
我必不永遠懷怒。’
這是耶和華的宣告。
13 ‘只要你承認自己的罪孽，
就是悖逆了耶和華你的 神，
在每棵繁茂的樹下，濫愛外族人的神，
沒有聽從我的話。’
這是耶和華的宣告。
14 ‘背道的人哪，回轉吧！’
這是耶和華的宣告。
‘因為我才是你們的主。
我要每城取一人，每族取二人，
把你們帶到錫安。
15 “我必把合我心意的牧人賜給你們，他們要用知識和智慧牧養你們。 16 當那些日子，你們在這地繁衍增多的時候，人必不再提說耶和華的約櫃，不把它放在心上，不思念它，不覺得缺少，也不再製造。’這是耶和華的宣告。 17 ‘那時，人必稱耶路撒冷為耶和華的寶座，萬國要聚集到她那裡，因耶和華名的緣故來到耶路撒冷；他們必不再隨從自己頑梗的惡心行事。 18 在那些日子，猶大家必與以色列家同行，他們必從北方之地一同來到我賜給你們列祖為業的地方。’”
19 “我說：
‘我待你，像待兒女一樣，
賜給你佳美之地，
就是列國中最美好的產業；
我以為你會稱我為父，
不再離去不跟從我了。
20 以色列家啊！
妻子怎樣行奸詐對丈夫不忠，
你也照樣以奸詐待我。’”
這是耶和華的宣告。
21 在光禿的高岡聽到人聲，
就是以色列人哭泣懇求的聲音；
因為他們改轉了自己的道路，
忘記了耶和華他們的 神。
22 “背道的人哪，回轉吧！
我必醫治你們背道的病。”
“看哪！我們來到你這裡，
因為你是耶和華我們的 神！
23 小山和大山上的喧嚷，真是徒然的，
以色列的救恩誠然在於耶和華我們的 神。
24 從我們幼年以來，我們列祖勞苦得來的，他們的牛羊，他們的兒女，都給那可恥的偶像吞掉了。 25 但願我們躺臥在羞恥中，讓慚愧遮蓋著我們！因為我們得罪了耶和華我們的 神，從我們幼年直到現在，我們和列祖都沒有聽從耶和華我們的 神的話。”
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