Jeremiah:3-4

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* saying : If a man put away his wife , and she go from him , and become another man 's , may he return unto her again ? Will not that land be greatly polluted ? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers ; and wouldest thou yet return to Me ? saith the LORD . * Lift up thine eyes unto the high hills , and see : Where hast thou not been lain with ? By the ways hast thou sat for them , as an Arabian in the wilderness ; and thou hast polluted the land with thy harlotries and with thy wickedness . * Therefore the showers have been withheld , and there hath been no latter rain ; yet thou hadst a harlot 's forehead , thou refusedst to be ashamed . * Didst thou not just now cry unto Me : 'My father , Thou art the friend of my youth . * Will He bear grudge for ever ? Will He keep it to the end ?' Behold , thou hast spoken , but hast done evil things , and hast had thy way . * And the LORD said unto me in the days of Josiah the king : 'Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel did ? she went up upon every high mountain and under every leafy tree , and there played the harlot . * And I said : After she hath done all these things , she will return unto me ; but she returned not . And her treacherous sister Judah saw it . * And I saw , when , forasmuch as backsliding Israel had committed adultery , I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement , that yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not ; but she also went and played the harlot ; * and it came to pass through the lightness of her harlotry , that the land was polluted , and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks ; * and yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto Me with her whole heart , but feignedly , saith the LORD -- * even the LORD said unto me--backsliding Israel hath proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah . * Go , and proclaim these words toward the north , and say : Return , thou backsliding Israel , saith the LORD ; I will not frown upon you ; for I am merciful , saith the LORD , I will not bear grudge for ever . * Only acknowledge thine iniquity , that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God , and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every leafy tree , and ye have not hearkened to My voice , saith the LORD . * Return , O backsliding children , saith the LORD ; for I am a lord 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 , who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding . * And it shall come to pass , when ye are 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 make mention of it ; neither shall they miss it ; neither shall it be made any more . * 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 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 that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers .' * But I said : 'How would I put thee among the sons , and give thee a pleasant land , the goodliest heritage of the nations !' And I said : 'Thou shalt call Me , My father ; and shalt not turn away from following Me .' * Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband , so have ye dealt treacherously with Me , O house of Israel , saith the LORD . * Hark ! upon the high hills is heard the suppliant weeping of the children of Israel ; for that they have perverted their way , they have forgotten the LORD their God . * Return , ye backsliding children , I will heal your backslidings .-- 'Here we are , we are come unto Thee ; for Thou art the LORD our God . * Truly vain have proved the hills , the uproar on the mountains ; truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel . * But the shameful thing hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth ; their flocks and their herds , their sons and their daughters . * Let us lie down in our shame , and let our confusion cover us ; for we have sinned against the LORD our God , we and our fathers , from our youth even unto this day ; and we have not hearkened to the voice of the LORD our God .' * If thou wilt return , O Israel , saith the LORD , yea , return unto Me ; and if thou wilt put away thy detestable things out of My sight , and wilt not waver ; * And wilt swear : 'As the LORD liveth ' in truth , in justice , and in righteousness ; then shall the nations bless themselves by Him , and in Him shall they glory . * For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem : Break up for you a fallow ground , and sow not among thorns . * Circumcise yourselves to the LORD , and take away the foreskins of your heart , ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem ; lest My fury go forth like fire , and burn that none can quench it , because of the evil of your doings . * Declare ye in Judah , and publish in Jerusalem , and say : 'Blow ye the horn in the land '; cry aloud and say : 'Assemble yourselves , and let us go into the fortified cities .' * Set up a standard toward Zion ; put yourselves under covert , stay not ; for I will bring evil from the north , and a great destruction . * A lion is gone up from his thicket , and a destroyer of nations is set out , gone forth from his place ; to make thy land desolate , that thy cities be laid waste , without inhabitant . * For this gird you with sackcloth , lament and wail ; for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us . * And it shall come to pass at that day , saith the LORD , that the heart of the king shall fail , and the heart of the princes ; and the priests shall be astonished , and the prophets shall wonder . * Then said I : 'Ah , Lord GOD ! surely Thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem , saying : Ye shall have peace ; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul .' * At that time shall it be said of this people and of Jerusalem ; A hot wind of the high hills in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people , not to fan , nor to cleanse ; * A wind too strong for this shall come for Me ; now will I also utter judgments against them . * Behold , he cometh up as clouds , and his chariots are as the whirlwind ; his horses are swifter than eagles .--'Woe unto us ! for we are undone .'-- * O Jerusalem , wash thy heart from wickedness , that thou mayest be saved . How long shall thy baleful thoughts lodge within thee ? * For hark ! one declareth from Dan , and announceth calamity from the hills of Ephraim : * 'Make ye mention to the nations : Behold--publish concerning Jerusalem--watchers come from a far country , and give out their voice against the cities of Judah .' * As keepers of a field are they against her round about ; because she hath been rebellious against Me , saith the LORD . * Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee ; this is thy wickedness ; yea , it is bitter , yea , it reacheth unto thy heart . * My bowels , my bowels ! I writhe in pain ! The chambers of my heart ! My heart moaneth within me ! I cannot hold my peace ! because thou hast heard , O my soul , the sound of the horn , the alarm of war . * Destruction followeth upon destruction , for the whole land is spoiled ; suddenly are my tents spoiled , my curtains in a moment . * How long shall I see the standard , shall I hear the sound of the horn ? * For My people is foolish , they know Me not ; they are sottish children , and they have no understanding ; they are wise to do evil , but to do good they have no knowledge . * I beheld the earth , and , lo , it was waste and void ; and the heavens , and they had no light . * I beheld the mountains , and , lo , they trembled , and all the hills moved to and fro . * I beheld , and , lo , there was no man , and all the birds of the heavens were fled . * I beheld , and , lo , the fruitful field was a wilderness , and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD , and before His fierce anger . * For thus saith the LORD : The whole land shall be desolate ; yet will I not make a full end . * For this shall the earth mourn , and the heavens above be black ; because I have spoken it , I have purposed it , and I have not repented , neither will I turn back from it . * For the noise of the horsemen and bowmen the whole city fleeth ; they go into the thickets , and climb up upon the rocks ; every city is forsaken , and not a man dwelleth therein . * And thou , that art spoiled , what doest thou , that thou clothest thyself with scarlet , that thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold , that thou enlargest thine eyes with paint ? In vain dost thou make thyself fair ; thy lovers despise thee , they seek thy life . * For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail , the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child , the voice of the daughter of Zion , that gaspeth for breath , that spreadeth her hands : 'Woe is me , now ! for my soul fainteth before the murderers .' * Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem , and see now , and know , and seek in the broad places thereof , if ye can find a man , if there be any that doeth justly , that seeketh truth ; and I will pardon her .

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