Jeremiah 3 (New American Standard)

The Polluted Land

1 God ^asays, "¹If a husband divorces his wife And she goes from him And belongs to another man, Will he still return to her? Will not that land be completely ^bpolluted ? But you ²are a harlot with many ^clovers ; Yet you ³turn to Me," declares the LORD. 2 "Lift up your eyes to the ⁴bare heights and see ; Where have you not been violated ? By the roads you have ⁵sat for them Like an Arab in the desert, And you have ⁶polluted a land With your harlotry and with your wickedness. 3 "Therefore the ⁷showers have been withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you had a ⁸harlot's forehead ; You refused to be ashamed. 4 "Have you not just now called to Me, '⁹My Father, You are the ^d10friend of my ¹¹youth ? 5 '¹²Will He be angry forever ? Will He ^ebe indignant to the end ?' Behold, you have spoken And have done evil things, And you have ^fhad your way."

Faithless Israel

6 Then the LORD said to me in the days of Josiah the king, "Have you seen what faithless Israel did ? She ¹³went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there. 7 "¹⁴I ^gthought, 'After she has done all these things she will return to Me'; but she did not return, and her ¹⁵treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 "And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and ¹⁶given her a writ of divorce, yet her ¹⁷treacherous sister Judah did not fear ; but she went and was a harlot also. 9 "Because of the lightness of her harlotry, she ¹⁸polluted the land and committed adultery with ¹⁹stones 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 ²⁰deception," declares the LORD.

God Invites Repentance

11 And the LORD said to me, "²¹Faithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 "Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, '²²Return, faithless Israel,' declares the LORD ; '²³I will not ^hlook upon you in anger. For I am ²⁴gracious,' declares the LORD ; 'I will not be angry forever. 13 'Only ⁱ²⁵acknowledge your iniquity, That you have transgressed against the LORD your God And have ²⁶scattered your ^jfavors to the strangers ²⁷under every green tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,' declares the LORD. 14 'Return, O faithless sons,' declares the LORD ; 'For I am a ²⁸master to you, And I will take you one from a city and two from a family, And ²⁹I will bring you to Zion.' 15 "Then I will give you ³⁰shepherds after My own heart, who will ³¹feed you on knowledge and understanding. 16 "It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land," declares the LORD, "they will ³²no longer say, 'The ark of the covenant of the LORD.' And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again. 17 "At that time they will call Jerusalem 'The ³³Throne of the LORD,' and ³⁴all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the ³⁵name of the LORD; nor will they ³⁶walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18 "³⁷In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together ³⁸from the land of the north to the ³⁹land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance. 19 "Then I said, 'How I would set you among ^kMy sons And give you a pleasant land, The most ⁴⁰beautiful inheritance of the nations !' And I said, 'You shall call Me, ⁴¹My Father, And not turn away from following Me.' 20 "Surely, as a woman treacherously departs from her ^llover, So you have ⁴²dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel," declares the LORD. 21 A voice is heard on the ⁴³bare heights, The weeping and the supplications of the sons of Israel ; Because they have perverted their way, They have ⁴⁴forgotten the LORD their God. 22 "Return, O faithless sons, ⁴⁵I will heal your faithlessness." "Behold, we come to You; For You are the LORD our God. 23 "Surely, ⁴⁶the hills are a deception, A tumult on the mountains. Surely in the ⁴⁷LORD our God Is the salvation of Israel. 24 "But ⁴⁸the shameful thing has consumed the labor of our fathers since our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 "Let us lie down in our ⁴⁹shame, and let our humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, ⁵⁰from our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God."