Jer 3, Jer 26 | 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 26

Jeremiah Threatened with Death

1 ^awIn the beginning of the reign of ^axJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: 2 “Thus says the Lord: ^ayStand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the Lord ^azall the words that I command you to speak to them; ^bado not hold back a word. 3 ^bbIt may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, ^bcthat I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them ^bdbecause of their evil deeds. 4 You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^beIf you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, 5 ^bfand to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you ^bgurgently, ^bhthough you have not listened, 6 then I will make this house ^bilike Shiloh, and I will make this city ^bja curse for all the nations of the earth.’”

7 ^bkThe priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. 8 And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then ^blthe priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die! 9 Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be ^bmlike Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, ^bnwithout inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

10 When ^bothe officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and took their seat in the ^bpentry of the New Gate of the house of the Lord. 11 Then ^bqthe priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, ^br“This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”

12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. 13 Now therefore ^bsmend your ways and your deeds, ^btand obey the voice of the Lord your God, ^buand the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. 14 ^bvBut as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. 15 Only know for certain that if you put me to death, ^bwyou will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

Jeremiah Spared from Death

16 ^bxThen the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, ^by“This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” 17 ^bzAnd certain of ^cathe elders of the land arose and spoke to all the assembled people, saying, 18 “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts,

^cb“‘Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the house a wooded height.’
19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? ^ccDid he not fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord, ^cdand did not the Lord relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them? ^ceBut we are about to bring great disaster upon ourselves.”

20 There was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from ^cfKiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like those of Jeremiah. 21 And when ^cgKing Jehoiakim, with all his warriors and all the officials, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah heard of it, he was afraid and fled and escaped to Egypt. 22 Then ^chKing Jehoiakim sent to Egypt certain men, ^ciElnathan the son of ^cjAchbor and others with him, 23 and they took Uriah from Egypt and brought him to King Jehoiakim, ^ckwho struck him down with the sword and dumped his dead body into the burial place of the common people.

24 But the hand of ^clAhikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah so that he was not given over to the people to be put to death.