Jer 3 | NASB2020 | STEP | God says , “ If a husband divorces his wife And she leaves him And becomes another man’s wife, Will he return to her again ? Would that land not be completely defiled ? But you are a prostitute with many lovers ; Yet you turn to Me,” declares the Lord .

Jeremiah 3

The Defiled Land

1 God ^{▼▼Lit saying}says, “ ^bIf a husband divorces his wife
And she leaves him
And becomes another man’s wife,
Will he return to her again?
Would that land not be completely defiled?
But you ^care a prostitute with many ^{▼▼Lit companions}lovers;
Yet you ^eturn to Me,” declares the Lord.
2 “Raise your eyes to the ^fbare heights and see;
Where have you not been violated?
You have ^gsat for them by the roads
Like an Arab in the desert,
And you have ^hdefiled a land
With your prostitution and your wickedness.
3 “Therefore the ⁱshowers have been withheld,
And there has been no spring rain.
Yet you had a ^jprostitute’s ^{▼▼I.e., calloused appearance}forehead;
You refused to be ashamed.
4 “Have you not just now called to Me,
‘ ^lMy Father, You are the ^mfriend of my ⁿyouth?
5 ‘ ^oWill He be angry forever,
Or keep His anger to the end?’
Behold, you have spoken
And have done evil things,
And you have ^{▼▼Lit been able}had your own way.”

Faithless Israel

6 Then the Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She ^qwent up on every high hill and under every leafy tree, and she prostituted herself there. 7 Yet ^rI ^{▼▼Lit said}thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her ^ttreacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 And I saw that for all the ^{▼▼I.e., idolatry}adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and ^vgiven her a certificate of divorce, yet her ^wtreacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and prostituted herself also. 9 And because of the thoughtlessness of her prostitution, she ^xdefiled the land and committed ^{▼▼I.e., idolatry}adultery with ^zstones 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 ^aadeception,” declares the Lord.

God Invites Repentance

11 And the Lord said to me, “ ^abFaithless Israel has proved herself to be more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say,

‘ ^acReturn, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord;
‘ ^adI will not ^{▼▼Lit make My face fall}look at you in anger.
For I am ^afgracious,’ declares the Lord;
‘I will not be angry forever.
13 ‘Only ^{▼▼Lit know
,} ^ahacknowledge your wrongdoing,
That you have revolted against the Lord your God,
And have ^aiscattered your ^{▼▼Lit ways}favors to the strangers ^akunder every leafy tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the Lord.
14 ‘Return, you faithless sons,’ declares the Lord;
‘For I am a ^almaster to you,
And I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,
And ^ambring you to Zion.’
15 “Then I will give you ^anshepherds ^{▼▼I.e., with hearts like Mine}after My own heart, who will ^apfeed you knowledge and understanding. 16 And it shall be in those days when you become numerous and are fruitful in the land,” declares the Lord, “they will ^aqno longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor miss it, nor will it be made again. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The ^arThrone of the Lord,’ and ^asall the nations will assemble at it, at Jerusalem, for the ^atname of the Lord; and they will no longer ^aufollow the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18 ^avIn those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together ^awfrom the land of the north to the ^axland that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.

19 “Then I said,

‘How I would set you among ^{▼▼Lit the}My sons
And give you a pleasant land,
The most ^azbeautiful inheritance of the nations!’
And I said, ‘You shall call Me, ^baMy Father,
And not turn away from following Me.’
20 “However, as a woman treacherously leaves her lover,
So you have ^bbdealt treacherously with Me,
House of Israel,” declares the Lord.

21 A voice is heard on the ^bcbare heights,
The weeping, the pleading of the sons of Israel.
Because they have perverted their way,
They have ^bdforgotten the Lord their God.
22 “Return, you faithless sons,
^beI will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to You;
For You are the Lord our God.
23 “Certainly ^bfthe hills are a deception,
^{▼▼I.e., from idolatrous rituals}Commotion on the mountains.
Certainly in the ^bhLord our God
Is the salvation of Israel.
24 “But ^bithe shame has consumed the product of our fathers’ labor since our youth--their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 Let us lie down in our ^bjshame, and let our humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, ^bkfrom our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”