Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
New Revised Standard NRS
1 It is commonly said: If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and marry another man, shall he return to her any more? shall not that woman be polluted, and defiled? but thou hast prostituted thyself to many lovers: nevertheless return to me, saith the Lord, and I will receive thee.
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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 such a land be greatly polluted? You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? says the Lord.
2 Lift up thy eyes on high: and see where thou hast not prostituted thyself: thou didst sit in the ways, waiting for them as a robber in the wilderness: and thou hast polluted the land with thy fornications, and with thy wickedness.
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Look up to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been lain with? By the waysides you have sat waiting for lovers, like a nomad in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your whoring and wickedness.
3 Therefore the showers were withholden, and there was no lateward rain: thou hadst a harlot’s forehead, thou wouldst not 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 Therefore at the least from this time call to me: Thou art my father, the guide of my virginity:
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Have you not just now called to me, "My Father, you are the friend of my youth—
5 Wilt thou be angry for ever, or wilt thou continue unto the end? Behold, thou hast spoken, and hast done evil things, and hast been able.
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will he be angry forever, will he be indignant to the end?" This is how you have spoken, but you have done all the evil that you could.
6 And the Lord said to me in the days of king Josias: Hast thou seen what rebellious Israel hath done? she hath gone of herself upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and hath played the harlot there.
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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 played the whore there?
7 And when she had done all these things, I said: Return to me, and she did not return. And her treacherous sister Juda saw,
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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 false sister Judah saw it.
8 That because the rebellious Israel had played the harlot, I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce: yet her treacherous sister Juda was not afraid, but went and played the harlot also herself.
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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 false sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore.
9 And by the facility of her fornication she defiled the land, and played the harlot with stones and with stocks.
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Because she took her whoredom so lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree.
10 And after all this, her treacherous sister Juda hath not returned to me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, saith the Lord.
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Yet for all this her false sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense, says the Lord.
11 And the Lord said to me: The rebellious Israel hath justified her soul, in comparison of the treacherous Juda.
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Then the Lord said to me: Faithless Israel has shown herself less guilty than false Judah.
12 Go, and proclaim these words towards the north, and thou shalt say: Return, O rebellious Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not turn away my face from you: for I am holy, saith the Lord, and I will not be angry for ever.
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Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: Return, faithless Israel, says the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, says the Lord; I will not be angry forever.
13 But yet acknowledge thy iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God: and thou hast scattered thy ways to strangers under every green tree, and hast not heard my voice, saith the Lord.
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Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the Lord your God, and scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree, and have not obeyed my voice, says the Lord.
14 Return, O ye revolting children, saith the Lord: for I am your I husband: and I will take you, one of a city, and two of a kindred, and will bring you into Sion.
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Return, O faithless children, says 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 And I will give you pastors according to my own heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine.
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I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16 And when you shall be multiplied, and increase in the land in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more: The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come upon the heart, neither shall they remember it, neither shall it be visited, neither shall that be done any more.
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And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall no longer say, "The ark of the covenant of the Lord." It shall not come to mind, or be remembered, or missed; nor shall another one be made.
17 At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord: and all the nations shall be gathered together to it, in the name of the Lord to Jerusalem, and they shall not walk after the perversity of their most wicked heart.
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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 longer stubbornly follow their own evil will.
18 In those days the house of Juda shall go to the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land which I gave to your fathers.
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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 ancestors for a heritage.
19 But I said: How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a lovely land, the goodly inheritance of the armies of the Gentiles? And I said: Thou shalt call me father and shalt not cease to walk after me.
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I thought how I would set you among my children, and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful heritage of all the nations. And I thought you would call me, My Father, and would not turn from following me.
20 But as a woman that despiseth her lover, so hath the house of Israel despised me, saith the Lord.
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Instead, as a faithless wife leaves her husband, so you have been faithless to me, O house of Israel, says the Lord.
21 A voice was heard in the highways, weeping and howling of the children of Israel: because they have made their way wicked, they have forgotten the Lord their God.
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A voice on the bare heights is heard, the plaintive weeping of Israel's children, because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten the Lord their God:
22 Return, you rebellious children, and I will heal your rebellions. Behold we come to thee: for thou art the Lord our God.
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Return, O faithless children, I will heal your faithlessness. "Here we come to you; for you are the Lord our God.
23 In very deed the hills were liars, and the multitude of the mountains: truly 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 Confusion hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
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"But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our ancestors had labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
25 We shall sleep in our confusion, and our shame shall cover us, because we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers from our youth even to this day, and we have not hearkened to 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 ancestors, from our youth even to this day; and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God."
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.