God Invites Repentance

11 And the Lord said to me, “(A)Faithless Israel has proved herself to be more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say,

(B)Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord;
(C)I will not [a]look at you in anger.
For I am (D)gracious,’ declares the Lord;
‘I will not be angry forever.
13 Only [b](E)acknowledge your wrongdoing,
That you have revolted against the Lord your God,
And have (F)scattered your [c]favors to the strangers (G)under every leafy tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the Lord.
14 ‘Return, you faithless sons,’ declares the Lord;
‘For I am a (H)master to you,
And I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,
And (I)bring you to Zion.’

15 “Then I will give you (J)shepherds [d]after My own heart, who will (K)feed you knowledge and understanding. 16 And it shall be in those days when you become numerous and are fruitful in the land,” declares the Lord, “they will (L)no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor miss it, nor will it be made again. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The (M)Throne of the Lord,’ and (N)all the nations will assemble at it, at Jerusalem, for the (O)name of the Lord; and they will no longer (P)follow the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18 (Q)In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together (R)from the land of the north to the (S)land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.

19 “Then I said,

‘How I would set you among [e]My sons
And give you a pleasant land,
The most (T)beautiful inheritance of the nations!’
And I said, ‘You shall call Me, (U)My Father,
And not turn away from following Me.’
20 However, as a woman treacherously leaves her lover,
So you have (V)dealt treacherously with Me,
House of Israel,” declares the Lord.

21 A voice is heard on the (W)bare heights,
The weeping, the pleading of the sons of Israel.
Because they have perverted their way,
They have (X)forgotten the Lord their God.
22 “Return, you faithless sons,
(Y)I will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to You;
For You are the Lord our God.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 3:12 Lit make My face fall
  2. Jeremiah 3:13 Lit know
  3. Jeremiah 3:13 Lit ways
  4. Jeremiah 3:15 I.e., with hearts like Mine
  5. Jeremiah 3:19 Lit the

Hope for Wayward Israel

11 Then the Lord said to me, “Even faithless Israel is less guilty than treacherous Judah! 12 Therefore, go and give this message to Israel.[a] This is what the Lord says:

“O Israel, my faithless people,
    come home to me again,
for I am merciful.
    I will not be angry with you forever.
13 Only acknowledge your guilt.
    Admit that you rebelled against the Lord your God
and committed adultery against him
    by worshiping idols under every green tree.
Confess that you refused to listen to my voice.
    I, the Lord, have spoken!

14 “Return home, you wayward children,”
    says the Lord,
    “for I am your master.
I will bring you back to the land of Israel[b]
    one from this town and two from that family—
    from wherever you are scattered.
15 And I will give you shepherds after my own heart,
    who will guide you with knowledge and understanding.

16 “And when your land is once more filled with people,” says the Lord, “you will no longer wish for ‘the good old days’ when you possessed the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant. You will not miss those days or even remember them, and there will be no need to rebuild the Ark. 17 In that day Jerusalem will be known as ‘The Throne of the Lord.’ All nations will come there to honor the Lord. They will no longer stubbornly follow their own evil desires. 18 In those days the people of Judah and Israel will return together from exile in the north. They will return to the land I gave your ancestors as an inheritance forever.

19 “I thought to myself,
    ‘I would love to treat you as my own children!’
I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land—
    the finest possession in the world.
I looked forward to your calling me ‘Father,’
    and I wanted you never to turn from me.
20 But you have been unfaithful to me, you people of Israel!
    You have been like a faithless wife who leaves her husband.
    I, the Lord, have spoken.”

21 Voices are heard high on the windswept mountains,
    the weeping and pleading of Israel’s people.
For they have chosen crooked paths
    and have forgotten the Lord their God.

22 “My wayward children,” says the Lord,
    “come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts.”

“Yes, we’re coming,” the people reply,
    “for you are the Lord our God.

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Footnotes

  1. 3:12 Hebrew toward the north.
  2. 3:14 Hebrew to Zion.