Faithless Israel

Then the Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She (A)went up on every high hill and under every leafy tree, and she prostituted herself there. Yet (B)I [a]thought, ‘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. And I saw that for all the [b]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 prostituted herself also. And because of the thoughtlessness of her prostitution, she (F)defiled the land and committed [c]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)deception,” declares the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 3:7 Lit said
  2. Jeremiah 3:8 I.e., idolatry
  3. Jeremiah 3:9 I.e., idolatry

Judah Follows Israel’s Example

During the reign of King Josiah, the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what fickle Israel has done? Like a wife who commits adultery, Israel has worshiped other gods on every hill and under every green tree. I thought, ‘After she has done all this, she will return to me.’ But she did not return, and her faithless sister Judah saw this. She saw[a] that I divorced faithless Israel because of her adultery. But that treacherous sister Judah had no fear, and now she, too, has left me and given herself to prostitution. Israel treated it all so lightly—she thought nothing of committing adultery by worshiping idols made of wood and stone. So now the land has been polluted. 10 But despite all this, her faithless sister Judah has never sincerely returned to me. She has only pretended to be sorry. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

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Footnotes

  1. 3:8 As in Dead Sea Scrolls, one Greek manuscript, and Syriac version; Masoretic Text reads I saw.