Jeremiah:3

---

Seeker Overlay ON

* It is said : »If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man , her first husband should not go back to her again .« The land would become completely polluted . »You have behaved like a prostitute who has many lovers . Now you want to come back to me !« Says Jehovah . * »Lift up your eyes to the bare hills and see . You have had sex with men in every place . You sat by the roadside waiting for them like a nomad in the desert . You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness . * »Accordingly the rain has been withheld , and there have been no spring showers . Yet , you have the unashamed look of a prostitute , and you refuse to be ashamed . * »‘Now you call to me . You say , ‘Father !’ »You have been my friend ever since I was young . * »Will you hold a grudge forever ? Will you always be angry ? You have said and done all the evil things that you could .« * During the reign of King Josiah , Jehovah asked me : »Did you see what unfaithful Israel did ? She went up every high mountain and under every large tree , and she acted like a prostitute there . * »I thought that after she had done all this she would come back to me . But she did not come back , and her treacherous sister Judah saw her . * »Judah saw that I sent unfaithful Israel away because of her adultery and that I gave Israel her divorce papers . But treacherous Judah , her sister , was not afraid . She also acted like a prostitute . * »Because she was not concerned about her prostitution . She polluted the land and committed adultery with stone and wood . * »Even after all this , Israel 's treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart . She was deceitful ,« says Jehovah . * Jehovah said to me : »Treacherous Judah was more reprehensible than unfaithful Israel . * »‘Go and proclaim this message to the north : ‘Come back , unfaithful Israel . It is Jehovah speaking . I will no longer frown on you because I am merciful ,’ declares Jehovah . ‘I will no longer be angry with you . * ‘Admit that you have done wrong ! You have rebelled against Jehovah your God . You have given yourself to foreign gods under every large tree . You have not obeyed me ,’ says Jehovah . * ‘Return , you disobedient people , proclaims Jehovah . I am your husband . I will take you , one from every city and two from every family , and bring you to Zion .’ * »I will give you shepherds after my own heart . They will be shepherds who feed you with knowledge and understanding . * »In those days you will be fertile , and your population will increase in the land , says Jehovah . Men will no longer talk about the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah . It will no longer come to mind . They will not remember it , miss it , or make another one . * »At that time , they will call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah . All nations will gather in Jerusalem because the name of Jehovah will be found there . They will no longer follow their own stubborn , evil ways . * »Then the nation of Judah will live with the nation of Israel . They will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave their ancestors as their own inheritance . * »I wanted to treat you like children and give you a pleasant land , the most beautiful property among the nations . I thought you would call me Father and not turn away from me . * »But like a wife who is unfaithful to her husband , so you , O house of Israel , were unfaithful me ,« says Jehovah . * A voice is heard on the bare hills . It is the crying and the pleading of the people of Israel . They are perverted and have forgotten Jehovah their God . * »Return you backsliding children , and I will forgive you for being unfaithful . See , we have come to you because you are Jehovah our God . * »Truly the sound from the hills and mountains is the noise of false worship . Truly Jehovah our God will be our salvation . * »Ever since we were young , the shameful worship of Baal has taken everything our ancestors worked for , their flocks and herds , their sons and daughters . * »We must lie down in our shame and let our humiliation cover us . Ever since we were young , we and our fathers have sinned against Jehovah our God . We have not obeyed Jehovah our God .«

---