Jeremiah, 3

1. If a man sends away his wife and, after leaving him, she marries another man, Does the first husband come back to her? Would not the land be wholly defiled? But you have sinned with many lovers, and yet you would return to me! says the LORD.

1. 'If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and becomes someone else's, has he the right to go back to her? Has not that piece of land been totally polluted? And you, having played the whore with many lovers, you claim the right to come back to me! Yahweh demands.

2. Lift your eyes to the heights, and see, where have men not lain with you? By the waysides you waited for them like an Arab in the desert. You defiled the land by your wicked harlotry.

2. 'Lift your eyes to the bare heights and look! Where have you not offered your sex! You waited by the roadside for them like an Arab in the desert. You have polluted the country with your prostitution and your vices:

3. Therefore the showers were withheld, the spring rain failed. But because you have a harlot's brow, you refused to blush.

3. this is why the showers have been withheld, the late rains have not come. 'But you maintained a prostitute's bold front, with no trace of a blush.

4. Even now do you not call me, "My father, you who are the bridegroom of my youth"?

4. From now on, do not cry out at me, "My father! My beloved ever since I was young!

5. "Will he keep his wrath forever, will he hold his grudge to the end?" This is what you say; yet you do all the evil you can.

5. Will he keep up his anger for ever, maintain his wrath to the end?" You say this but still go on sinning, being so obstinate.'

6. The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: See now what rebellious Israel has done! She has gone up every high mountain, and under every green tree she has played the harlot.

6. In the days of King Josiah, Yahweh said to me, 'Have you seen what disloyal Israel has done? How she has made her way up every high hill and to every green tree, and played the whore there?

7. And I thought, after she has done all this she will return to me. But she did not return. Then, even though her traitor sister Judah saw

7. I thought, "After doing all this she will come back to me." But she did not come back. Her faithless sister Judah saw this.

8. that for all the adulteries rebellious Israel had committed, I put her away and gave her a bill of divorce, nevertheless her traitor sister Judah was not frightened; she too went off and played the harlot.

8. She also saw that I had repudiated disloyal Israel for all her adulteries and given her her divorce papers. Her faithless sister Judah, however, was not afraid: she too went and played the whore.

9. Eager to sin, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and wood.

9. And with her shameless whoring, she polluted the country; she committed adultery with stones and pieces of wood.

10. With all this, the traitor sister Judah did not return to me wholeheartedly, but insincerely, says the LORD.

10. Worse than all this: Judah, her faithless sister, has come back to me not in sincerity, but only in pretence, Yahweh declares.'

11. Then the LORD said to me: Rebel Israel is inwardly more just than traitorous Judah.

11. And Yahweh said to me, 'Disloyal Israel is upright, compared with faithless Judah.

12. Go, proclaim these words toward the north, and say: Return, rebel Israel, says the LORD, I will not remain angry with you; For I am merciful, says the LORD, I will not continue my wrath forever.

12. So go and shout words towards the north, and say: "Come back, disloyal Israel, Yahweh declares, I shall frown on you no more, since I am merciful, Yahweh declares. I shall not keep my anger for ever.

13. Only know your guilt: how you rebelled against the LORD, your God, How you ran hither and yon to strangers (under every green tree) and would not listen to my voice, says the LORD.

13. Only acknowledge your guilt: how you have rebelled against Yahweh your God, how you have prostituted yourself with the Strangers under every green tree and have not listened to my voice, Yahweh declares.

14. Return, rebellious children, says the LORD, for I am your Master; I will take you, one from a city, two from a clan, and bring you to Zion.

14. "Come back, disloyal children, Yahweh declares, for I alone am your Master, and I will take you, one from a town, two from a family, and bring you to Zion.

15. I will appoint over you shepherds after my own heart, who will shepherd you wisely and prudently.

15. I shall give you shepherds after my own heart, who will pasture you wisely and discreetly.

16. When you multiply and become fruitful in the land, says the LORD, They will in those days no longer say, "The ark of the covenant of the LORD!" They will no longer think of it, or remember it, or miss it, or make another.

16. Then, when you have increased and grown numerous in the country, Yahweh declares, no one will ever again say: The ark of the covenant of Yahweh! It will not enter their minds, they will not remember it or miss it, nor will another one be made.

17. At that time they will call Jerusalem the LORD'S throne; there all nations will be gathered together to honor the name of the LORD at Jerusalem, and they will walk no longer in their hardhearted wickedness.

17. When that time comes, Jerusalem will be called: The Throne of Yahweh, and all the nations will converge on her, on Yahweh's name, on Jerusalem, and will no longer follow their own stubborn and wicked inclinations.

18. In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel; together they will come from the land of the north to the land which I gave to your fathers as a heritage.

18. "When those days come, the House of Judah will join the House of Israel; together they will come from the land of the north to the country I gave your ancestors as their heritage."

19. I had thought: How I should like to treat you as sons, And give you a pleasant land, a heritage most beautiful among the nations! You would call me, "My Father," I thought, and never cease following me.

19. 'And I was thinking: How am I to rank you as my children? I shall give you a country of delights, the fairest heritage of all the nations! I thought: You will call me Father and will never cease to follow me.

20. But like a woman faithless to her lover, even so have you been faithless to me, O house of Israel, says the LORD.

20. But like a woman betraying her lover, House of Israel, you have betrayed me,' Yahweh declares.

21. A cry is heard on the heights! the plaintive weeping of Israel's children, Because they have perverted their ways and forgotten the LORD, their God.

21. A noise is heard on the bare heights: the weeping and entreaty of the Israelites, for they have gone wildly astray, have forgotten Yahweh their God.

22. Return, rebellious children, and I will cure you of your rebelling. "Here we are, we now come to you because you are the LORD, our God.

22. 'Come back, disloyal sons, I want to cure your disloyalty.' 'We are here, we are coming to you, for you are Yahweh our God.

23. Deceptive indeed are the hills, the thronging mountains; In the LORD, our God, alone is the salvation of Israel.

23. The hills are a delusion after all, so is the tumult of the mountains. Yahweh our God is, after all, the saving of Israel.

24. The shame-god has devoured our fathers' toil from our youth, Their sheep and their cattle, their sons and their daughters.

24. Shame has devoured what our ancestors worked for ever since we were young, their flocks and herds, their sons and their daughters.

25. Let us lie down in our shame, let our disgrace cover us, for we have sinned against the LORD, our God, From our youth to this day, we and our fathers also; we listened not to the voice of the LORD, our God."

25. Let us lie down in our shame, let our confusion cover us, for we have sinned against Yahweh our God, we and our ancestors, from our youth until today, and have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God.'