Jeremiah:3

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* 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 ? Would not that land be utterly polluted ? But thou hast committed fornication with many lovers ; yet return to me , saith Jehovah . * Lift up thine eyes unto the heights and see , where hast thou not been lain with ? In the ways hast thou sat for them , as an Arab in the wilderness ; and thou hast polluted the land with thy fornications and with thy wickedness . * And the showers have been withholden , and there hath been no latter rain ; but thou hast a harlot 's forehead , thou refusest to be ashamed . * Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me , My father , thou art the guide of my youth ? * Will he keep [his anger ] for ever ? Will he preserve it perpetually ? Behold , thou hast spoken and hast done evil things , and thou art [so ] determined . * And Jehovah said unto me in the days of Josiah the king , Hast thou seen what backsliding Israel hath done ? She hath gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree , and there hath committed fornication . * And I said , After she hath done all these [things ], she will return unto me ; but she returned not . And her sister Judah , the treacherous , saw [it ]. * And I saw that when for all the causes wherein backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away , and given her a bill of divorce , yet the treacherous Judah , her sister , feared not , but went and committed fornication also . * And it came to pass through the lightness of her fornication that she polluted the land , and committed adultery with stones and with stocks . * And even for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart , but with falsehood , saith Jehovah . * And Jehovah said unto me , Backsliding Israel hath shewn herself more just than treacherous Judah . * Go and proclaim these words toward the north , and say , Return , thou backsliding Israel , saith Jehovah : I will not make my face dark upon you ; for I am merciful , saith Jehovah ; I will not keep [anger ] for ever . * Only acknowledge thine iniquity , that thou hast transgressed against Jehovah thy God , and hast turned thy ways hither and thither to the strangers under every green tree ; and ye have not hearkened to my voice , saith Jehovah . * Return , backsliding children , saith Jehovah ; for I am a husband unto you , and I will take you , one of a city , and two of a family , and I will bring you to Zion . * And I will give you shepherds according to my heart , and they shall feed you with knowledge and understanding . * And it shall come to pass , when ye are multiplied in the land and become fruitful , in those days , saith Jehovah , they shall say no more , Ark of the covenant of Jehovah ! neither shall it come to mind , nor shall they remember it , nor shall they visit [it ]; neither shall it be done any more . * At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah ; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it , to the name of Jehovah , to Jerusalem ; and they shall no more walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart . * 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 which I caused your fathers to inherit . * And as for me , I said , How shall I put thee among the children , and give thee the pleasant land , the goodly inheritance of the hosts of the nations ? And I said , Thou shalt call me , My father ; and shalt not turn away from following me . * Surely [as ] a woman treacherously departeth from her companion , so have ye dealt treacherously with me , O house of Israel , saith Jehovah . * A voice is heard upon the heights , the weeping supplications of the children of Israel ; for they have perverted their way , they have forgotten Jehovah their God . * -- Return , backsliding children ; I will heal your backslidings .... Behold , we come unto thee ; for thou art Jehovah our God . * Truly in vain [is salvation looked for ] from the hills , [and ] the multitude of mountains ; truly in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel . * But shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth ; their flocks and their herds , their sons and their daughters . * We lie down in our shame , and our confusion covereth us ; for we have sinned against Jehovah our God , we and our fathers , from our youth even unto this day , and have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah our God .

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