Jeremiah 3:11-22
Lexham English Bible
A Call for Repentance
11 Then Yahweh said to me, “Apostate[a] Israel has proved herself more upright[b] than treacherous Judah. 12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say,
‘Return, apostate[c] Israel,’ declares[d] Yahweh.
‘I will not cause my anger[e] to fall on you.
For I am loyal,’ declares[f] Yahweh.
‘I will not be angry forever.[g]
13 Only acknowledge your guilt,
that against Yahweh your God you have rebelled,
and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every leafy tree,
and you have not obeyed my voice,’ declares[h] Yahweh.”
14 “Return, apostate[i] children,” declares[j] Yahweh. “For I am your master,[k] and I will take you one from a city and two from a clan,[l] and I will bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart and they will feed you knowledge and insight. 16 And it will be when you have multiplied and become fruitful in the land in those days,” declares[m] Yahweh, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of Yahweh.’ And it will not come to mind,[n] nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it,[o] nor will it be made again. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of Yahweh,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of Yahweh, to Jerusalem, and they will no longer go after the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18 In those days the house of Judah will walk along with the house of Israel and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave as an inheritance to your ancestors.[p]
19 Then I thought, ‘How I would set you among the children,
and I would give you a land of desire,
an inheritance of the glory of the hosts of nations.’
And I thought, ‘You would call me, “My father,”
and you would not turn back from behind[q] me.’
20 However, as a wife departs treacherously from her lover,
so you have dealt treacherously with me,
O house of Israel,” declares[r] Yahweh.
21 “A voice is heard on the barren heights,
the weeping of the pleas for mercy of the children of Israel,
because they have perverted their way,
they have forgotten Yahweh their God.
22 Return, O apostate[s] children,
I will heal your backsliding.
‘Look, we come to you,
for you are Yahweh our God.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 3:11 Or “unfaithful”
- Jeremiah 3:11 Or “righteous”
- Jeremiah 3:12 Or “unfaithful”
- Jeremiah 3:12 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 3:12 Literally “faces”
- Jeremiah 3:12 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 3:12 Literally “to eternity”
- Jeremiah 3:13 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 3:14 Or “unfaithful”
- Jeremiah 3:14 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 3:14 Literally “I rule over among you”
- Jeremiah 3:14 Or “family”
- Jeremiah 3:16 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 3:16 Literally “it shall not go up on heart”
- Jeremiah 3:16 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Jeremiah 3:18 Or “fathers”
- Jeremiah 3:19 Or “following”
- Jeremiah 3:20 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 3:22 Or “unfaithful”
Jeremiah 3:11-22
New Living Translation
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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Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
