Jeremiah:3-4
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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 ?
shall not that land be greatly polluted ?
but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers ;
yet return again to me ,
saith the LORD .
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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 .
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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 .
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Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me ,
My father ,
thou art the guide of my youth ?
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom ,
that she defiled the land ,
and committed adultery with stones and with stocks .
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And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart ,
but feignedly ,
saith the LORD .
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And the LORD said unto me ,
The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 :
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And I will give you pastors according to mine heart ,
which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband ,
so have ye dealt treacherously with me ,
O house of Israel ,
saith the LORD .
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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 .
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Return ,
ye backsliding children ,
and I will heal your backslidings .
Behold ,
we come unto thee ;
for thou art the LORD our God .
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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 .
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For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth ;
their flocks and their herds ,
their sons and their daughters .
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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 .
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If thou wilt return ,
O Israel ,
saith the LORD ,
return unto me :
and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight ,
then shalt thou not remove .
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And thou shalt swear ,
The LORD liveth ,
in truth ,
in judgment ,
and in righteousness ;
and the nations shall bless themselves in him ,
and in him shall they glory .
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For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem ,
Break up your fallow ground ,
and sow not among thorns .
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Circumcise yourselves to the LORD ,
and take away the foreskins of your heart ,
ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem :
lest my fury come forth like fire ,
and burn that none can quench it ,
because of the evil of your doings .
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Declare ye in Judah ,
and publish in Jerusalem ;
and say ,
Blow ye the trumpet in the land :
cry ,
gather together ,
and say ,
Assemble yourselves ,
and let us go into the defenced cities .
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Set up the standard toward Zion :
retire ,
stay not :
for I will bring evil from the north ,
and a great destruction .
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The lion is come up from his thicket ,
and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way ;
he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate ;
and thy cities shall be laid waste ,
without an inhabitant .
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For this gird you with sackcloth ,
lament and howl :
for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us .
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And it shall come to pass at that day ,
saith the LORD ,
that the heart of the king shall perish ,
and the heart of the princes ;
and the priests shall be astonished ,
and the prophets shall wonder .
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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 .
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At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem ,
A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people ,
not to fan ,
nor to cleanse ,
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Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me :
now also will I give sentence against them .
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Behold ,
he shall come up as clouds ,
and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind :
his horses are swifter than eagles .
Woe unto us !
for we are spoiled .
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O Jerusalem ,
wash thine heart from wickedness ,
that thou mayest be saved .
How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee ?
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For a voice declareth from Dan ,
and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim .
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Make ye mention to the nations ;
behold ,
publish against Jerusalem ,
that watchers come from a far country ,
and give out their voice against the cities of Judah .
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As keepers of a field ,
are they against her round about ;
because she hath been rebellious against me ,
saith the LORD .
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Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee ;
this is thy wickedness ,
because it is bitter ,
because it reacheth unto thine heart .
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My bowels ,
my bowels !
I am pained at my very heart ;
my heart maketh a noise in me ;
I cannot hold my peace ,
because thou hast heard ,
O my soul ,
the sound of the trumpet ,
the alarm of war .
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Destruction upon destruction is cried ;
for the whole land is spoiled :
suddenly are my tents spoiled ,
and my curtains in a moment .
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How long shall I see the standard ,
and hear the sound of the trumpet ?
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For my people is foolish ,
they have not known me ;
they are sottish children ,
and they have none understanding :
they are wise to do evil ,
but to do good they have no knowledge .
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I beheld the earth ,
and ,
lo ,
it was without form ,
and void ;
and the heavens ,
and they had no light .
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I beheld the mountains ,
and ,
lo ,
they trembled ,
and all the hills moved lightly .
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I beheld ,
and ,
lo ,
there was no man ,
and all the birds of the heavens were fled .
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I beheld ,
and ,
lo ,
the fruitful place was a wilderness ,
and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD ,
and by his fierce anger .
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For thus hath the LORD said ,
The whole land shall be desolate ;
yet will I not make a full end .
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For this shall the earth mourn ,
and the heavens above be black :
because I have spoken it ,
I have purposed it ,
and will not repent ,
neither will I turn back from it .
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The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen ;
they shall go into thickets ,
and climb up upon the rocks :
every city shall be forsaken ,
and not a man dwell therein .
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And when thou art spoiled ,
what wilt thou do ?
Though thou clothest thyself with crimson ,
though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold ,
though thou rentest thy face with painting ,
in vain shalt thou make thyself fair ;
thy lovers will despise thee ,
they will seek thy life .
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For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail ,
and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child ,
the voice of the daughter of Zion ,
that bewaileth herself ,
that spreadeth her hands ,
saying ,
Woe is me now !
for my soul is wearied because of murderers .
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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 executeth judgment ,
that seeketh the truth ;
and I will pardon it .