Jeremiah 3
1. They say * , If a man put away * his wife, and she go * from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again * ? shall not that land be greatly * polluted * ? but thou hast played the harlot * with many lovers; yet return again * to me, saith * the LORD.
2. Lift up * thine eyes unto the high places, and see * where thou hast not been lien * with. In the ways hast thou sat * for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted * the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
3. Therefore the showers have been withholden * , and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's * forehead, thou refusedst * to be ashamed * .
4. Wilt thou not from this time cry * unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?
5. Will he reserve * his anger for ever?will he keep * it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken * and done * evil things as thou couldest * .
6. The LORD said * also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen * that which backsliding Israel hath done * ? she is gone up * upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot * .
7. And I said * after she had done * all these things, Turn * thou unto me. But she returned * not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw * it.
8. And I saw * , when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery * I had put her away * , and given * her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous * sister Judah feared * not, but went * and played the harlot * also.
9. And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled * the land, and committed adultery * with stones and with stocks.
10. And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned * unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith * the LORD.
11. And the LORD said * unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified * herself more than treacherous * Judah.
12. Go * and proclaim * these words toward the north, and say * , Return * , thou backsliding Israel, saith * the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall * upon you: for I am merciful, saith * the LORD, and I will not keep * anger for ever.
13. Only acknowledge * thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed * against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered * thy ways to the strangers * under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed * my voice, saith * the LORD.
14. Turn * , O backsliding children,saith * the LORD; for I am married * unto you: and I will take * you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring * you to Zion:
15. And I will give * you pastors * according to mine heart, which shall feed * you with knowledge and understanding * .
16. And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied * and increased * 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 * to mind: neither shall they remember * it; neither shall they visit * it; neither shall that be done * any more.
17. At that time they shall call * Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered * unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem:neither shall they walk * any more after the imagination of their evil heart.
18. In those days the house of Judah shall walk * with the house of Israel, and they shall come * together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance * unto your fathers.
19. But I said * , How shall I put * thee among the children, and give * thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said * , Thou shalt call * me, My father; and shalt not turn away * from me.
20. Surely as a wife treacherously * departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously * with me, O house of Israel, saith * the LORD.
21. A voice was heard * upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted * their way, and they have forgotten * the LORD their God.
22. Return * , ye backsliding children, and I will heal * your backslidings. Behold, we come * unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.
23. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
24. For shame hath devoured * the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
25. We lie down * in our shame, and our confusion covereth * us: for we have sinned * against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed * the voice of the LORD our God.
