Jer 3, Jer 17 | ESV | STEP | 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 .

1 ^a“If ^{▼▼Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew Saying, “If} a man divorces his wife
and she goes from him
and becomes another man’s wife,
will he return to her?
^cWould not that land be greatly polluted?
^dYou have played the whore with many lovers;
and would you return to me?

declares the Lord.
2 Lift up your eyes to ^ethe bare heights, and see!
Where have you not been ravished?
^fBy the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers
like an Arab in the wilderness.
^gYou have polluted the land
with your vile whoredom.
3 ^hTherefore the showers have been withheld,
and the spring rain has not come;
yet you have ⁱthe forehead of a whore;
you refuse to be ashamed.
4 Have you not just now ^jcalled to me,
‘My father, you are the friend of my youth—
5 ^kwill 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.”

Faithless Israel Called to Repentance

6 The Lord said to me in the days of ^lKing Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, ^mhow she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there ⁿplayed the whore? 7 And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous ^osister Judah saw it. 8 She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, ^pI had sent her away with ^qa decree of divorce. ^rYet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went ^sand played the whore. 9 Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with ^tstone and tree. 10 Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me ^uwith her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord.”

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

^x“‘Return, faithless Israel,

declares the Lord.
I will not look on you in anger,
for ^yI am merciful,

declares the Lord;
^zI will not be angry forever.
13 ^aaOnly acknowledge your guilt,
that you rebelled against the Lord your God
and scattered your favors among foreigners under ^abevery green tree,
and that you have not obeyed my voice,

declares the Lord.
14 ^acReturn, O faithless children,

declares the Lord;
^adfor 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 ^aeI will give you shepherds after my own heart, ^afwho will feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16 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 Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, ^agand all nations shall gather to it, ^ahto the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart. 18 ^aiIn those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land ^ajof the north to ^akthe land that I gave your fathers for a heritage.

19 “‘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 ^alcall me, My Father,
and would not turn from following me.
20 ^amSurely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband,
so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel,

declares the Lord.’”
21 A voice on the ^anbare heights is heard,
^aothe weeping and pleading of Israel’s sons
because they have perverted their way;
they have forgotten the Lord their God.
22 ^ap“Return, O faithless sons;
^aqI will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to you,
for you are the Lord our God.
23 Truly ^arthe hills are a delusion,
the orgies ^{▼▼Hebrew commotion} on the mountains.
^atTruly in the Lord our God
is the salvation of Israel.
24 “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 ^auLet us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For ^avwe 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.”

Jeremiah 17

The Sin of Judah

1 “The sin of Judah is written with ^awa pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on ^axthe tablet of their heart, and on ^aythe horns of their altars, 2 while ^aztheir children remember their altars and their ^baAsherim, ^bbbeside every green tree and on the high hills, 3 ^bcon the mountains in the open country. ^bdYour wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory. 4 You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, ^beand I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, ^bffor in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

5 Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man ^bgwho trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength, ^{▼▼Hebrew arm}
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 ^biHe is like a shrub in the desert,
^bjand shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in ^bkan uninhabited salt land.
7 ^bl“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
^bmwhose trust is the Lord.
8 ^bnHe is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
10 ^bo“I the Lord search the heart
^bpand test the mind, ^{▼▼Hebrew kidneys}
^brto give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”
11 Like the ^bspartridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch,
so is ^bthe who gets riches but not by justice;
^buin the midst of his days they will leave him,
^bvand at his end he will be a fool.
12 A glorious throne set on high from the beginning
is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O Lord, ^bwthe hope of Israel,
^bxall who forsake you shall be put to shame;
those who turn away from you ^{▼▼Hebrew me} ^bzshall be written in the earth,
for ^cathey have forsaken ^cbthe Lord, the fountain of living water.

Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance

14 ^ccHeal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
save me, and I shall be saved,
for ^cdyou are my praise.
15 ^ceBehold, they say to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come!”
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd,
nor have I desired the day of sickness.
^cfYou know ^cgwhat came out of my lips;
it was before your face.
17 Be not a terror to me;
^chyou are my refuge in the day of disaster.
18 ^ciLet those be put to shame who persecute me,
but let me not be put to shame;
^cjlet them be dismayed,
but let me not be dismayed;
^ckbring upon them the day of disaster;
destroy them with double destruction!

Keep the Sabbath Holy

19 Thus said the Lord to me: “Go and stand in the People’s Gate, by which ^clthe kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, 20 and say: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, ^cmyou kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21 Thus says the Lord: Take care for the sake of your lives, and ^cndo not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. 22 And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath ^coor do any work, but ^cpkeep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. 23 Yet ^cqthey did not listen or incline their ear, ^crbut stiffened their neck, that they ^csmight not hear and receive instruction.

24 “‘But if you listen to me, declares the Lord, and ^ctbring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but ^cukeep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, 25 then ^cvthere shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever. 26 And people shall come from ^cwthe cities of Judah ^cxand the places around Jerusalem, ^cyfrom the land of Benjamin, ^czfrom the Shephelah, from the hill country, ^daand from ^dbthe Negeb, bringing ^dcburnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and ^ddbringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not listen to me, to ^dekeep the Sabbath day holy, ^dfand not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will ^dgkindle a fire in its gates, and it shall ^dhdevour the palaces of Jerusalem and ^dishall not be quenched.’”