Jer 3-4 | 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 4

1 “If you return, O Israel,

declares the Lord,
^awto me you should return.
If you remove your detestable things from my presence,
^axand do not waver,
2 ^ayand if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then ^aznations shall bless themselves in him,
^baand in him shall they glory.”
3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

^bb“Break up your fallow ground,
and ^bcsow not among thorns.
4 ^bdCircumcise yourselves to the Lord;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
^belest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
^bfbecause of the evil of your deeds.”

Disaster from the North

5 Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,

^bg“Blow the trumpet through the land;
cry aloud and say,
^bh‘Assemble, and let us go
into the fortified cities!’
6 ^biRaise a standard toward Zion,
flee for safety, stay not,
for I bring disaster from ^bjthe north,
^bkand great destruction.
7 ^blA lion has gone up from his thicket,
a destroyer of nations has set out;
he has gone out from his place
to make your land a waste;
your cities will be ruins
^bmwithout inhabitant.
8 For this ^bnput on sackcloth,
lament and wail,
for ^bothe fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned back from us.”
9 “In that day, declares the Lord, ^bpcourage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” 10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, ^bqsurely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ whereas the sword has reached their very life.”

11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from ^brthe bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, 12 a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who ^bsspeak in judgment upon them.”

13 Behold, he comes up like clouds;
^bthis chariots like the whirlwind;
his horses are ^buswifter than eagles—
woe to us, ^bvfor we are ruined!
14 O Jerusalem, ^bwwash your heart from evil,
that you may be saved.
How long shall your wicked thoughts
lodge within you?
15 For a voice ^bxdeclares from Dan
and proclaims trouble from ^byMount Ephraim.
16 Warn the nations that he is coming;
announce to Jerusalem,
“Besiegers come ^bzfrom a distant land;
they shout against the cities of Judah.
17 Like keepers of a field ^caare they against her all around,
because she has rebelled against me,

declares the Lord.
18 Your ways and your deeds
have brought this upon you.
This is your doom, and ^cbit is bitter;
it has reached your very heart.”

Anguish over Judah’s Desolation

19 ^ccMy anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!
Oh the walls of my heart!
My heart is beating wildly;
I cannot keep silent,
for I hear the sound of the trumpet,
the alarm of war.
20 ^cdCrash follows hard on crash;
the whole land is laid waste.
^ceSuddenly my tents are laid waste,
my curtains in a moment.
21 How long must I see the standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “For ^cfmy people are foolish;
they know me not;
they are stupid children;
they have no understanding.
^cgThey are ‘wise’—in doing evil!
But how to do good they know not.”
23 I looked on the earth, and behold, it was ^chwithout form and void;
^ciand to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I looked on ^cjthe mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
and all the hills moved to and fro.
25 ^ckI looked, and behold, there was no man,
and all the birds of the air had fled.
26 I looked, and behold, the ^clfruitful land was a desert,
and all its cities were laid in ruins
before the Lord, before ^cmhis fierce anger.
27 For thus says the Lord, “The whole land shall be a desolation; ^cnyet I will not make a full end.

28 ^co“For this the earth shall mourn,
^cpand the heavens above be dark;
for I have spoken; I have purposed;
^cqI have not relented, nor will I turn back.”
29 At the noise of horseman and archer
every city takes to flight;
they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;
all the cities are forsaken,
and ^crno man dwells in them.
30 And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,
^csthat you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
^ctthat you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
^cuYour lovers despise you;
they seek your life.
31 For I heard ^cva cry as of a woman in labor,
anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,
the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
^cwstretching out her hands,
“Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”