Common English Bible CEB
English Standard Version ESV
1 If a man divorces his wife, and after she leaves him marries another, can he return to her again? Wouldn't such an act completely corrupt the land? Yet you have prostituted yourself with many lovers. Would you return to me? declares the LORD.
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“If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s wife, will he return to her? Would not that land be greatly polluted? You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? declares the Lord.
2 Look to the well-traveled paths and see! Where haven't you committed adultery? On the roadsides you sit in wait for lovers, like a nomad in the wilderness. You have corrupted the land with your cheap and reckless behavior.
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Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been ravished? By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers like an Arab in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your vile whoredom.
3 That's why the showers have failed and the spring rains have ceased. Still you act like a brazen prostitute who refuses to blush.
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Therefore the showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come; yet you have the forehead of a whore; you refuse to be ashamed.
4 At the same time you say to me, "My father, my friend since youth,
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Have you not just now called to me, ‘My father, you are the friend of my youth—
5 will you stay angry forever? Will you continue to be furious?" This is what you say while you do as much evil as you possibly can.
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will he be angry forever, will he be indignant to the end? ’Behold, you have spoken, but you have done all the evil that you could. ”
6 During the rule of King Josiah, the LORD said to me: Have you noticed what unfaithful Israel has done? She's gone about looking for lovers on top of every high hill and under every lush tree.
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The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore?
7 I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me, but she didn't. Her disloyal sister Judah saw this.
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And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me, ’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
8 She also saw that I sent unfaithful Israel away with divorce papers because of all her acts of unfaithfulness; yet disloyal sister Judah was not afraid but kept on playing the prostitute.
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She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore.
9 She didn't think twice about corrupting the land and committing adultery with stone and tree.
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Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree.
10 Yet even after all this, disloyal sister Judah didn't return to me with all her heart but only insincerely, declares the LORD.
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Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord. ”
11 Then the LORD said to me: Unfaithful Israel is less guilty than disloyal Judah.
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And the Lord said to me, “Faithless 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 reject you, for I'm faithful, declares the LORD; I won't stay angry forever.
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Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, “‘Return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the Lord; I will not be angry forever.
13 Only acknowledge your wrongdoing: how you have rebelled against the LORD your God, and given yourself to strangers under every lush tree and haven't obeyed me, declares the LORD.
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Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the Lord.
14 Return, rebellious children, declares the LORD, for I'm your husband. I'll gather you— one from a city and two from a tribe— and bring you back to Zion.
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Return, O faithless children, declares the Lord; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
15 I will appoint shepherds with whom I'm pleased, and they will lead you with knowledge and understanding.
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“‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16 And in those days, when your numbers have greatly increased in the land, declares the LORD, people will no longer talk about the LORD's covenant chest; they won't recall or remember it; they won't even miss it or try to build another one.
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And when you have multiplied and been fruitful in the land, in those days, declares the Lord, they shall no more say, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord. ” It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again.
17 At that time, they will call Jerusalem the LORD's throne, and all nations will gather there to honor the LORD's name. No longer will they follow their own willful and evil hearts.
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At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart.
18 In those days the people of Judah and Israel will leave the north together for the land that I gave their ancestors as an inheritance.
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In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers for a heritage.
19 I thought to myself, How wonderful it would be to treat you like children and give you a beautiful land, an inheritance unrivaled among the nations. And I thought, You will call me father, and you won't turn away from me.
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“‘I said, How I would set you among my sons, and give you a pleasant land, a heritage most beautiful of all nations. And I thought you would call me, My Father, and would not turn from following me.
20 But as a woman betrays her lover, so you, people of Israel, have betrayed me, declares the LORD.
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Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband, so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel, declares the Lord. ’”
21 A voice is heard on the well-traveled paths; it's the crying and pleading of the people of Israel, who have lost their way and forgotten the LORD their God.
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A voice on the bare heights is heard, the weeping and pleading of Israel’s sons because they have perverted their way; they have forgotten the Lord their God.
22 Return, rebellious children, and I will heal your rebellion. "Here we are; we come to you, for you are the LORD our God.
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“Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness. ”“Behold, we come to you, for you are the Lord our God.
23 Surely what happens on the hills is a waste, as is the uproar on the mountains. Only in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
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Truly the hills are a delusion, the orgies on the mountains. Truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.
24 From our youth, shame has devoured the fruit of our parents' labor— their flocks and herds, as well as their sons and daughters.
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“But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our fathers labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
25 Let's lie down in our shame. Let our dishonor cover us, for we have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our ancestors, from our youth to this very day. We have disobeyed the voice of the LORD our God."
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Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God. ”
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025