Yirmiyahu - Chapter 3

1. [I have] to say; If a man sends away his wife, and she goes away from him, and marries another man, may he return to her again? Will not the land become defiled? But you have played the harlot [with] many lovers, yet return to Me, says the Lord.

2. Lift up your eyes upon the rivulets and see, where have you not been lain with? By the roads you sat for them like an Arab in the desert, and you defiled the land with your harlotries and with your evil.

3. And the rains were withheld, and there has been no latter rain, and you had a harlot's forehead; you refused to be ashamed.

4. Will you not from this time call me, "My Father, You the Master of my youth."

5. Will He bear a grudge forever? Will He keep it to eternity? Behold, you have spoken, and you have committed evil things, and you were able.

6. And the Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: Have you seen what the backsliding Israel has done? She goes on every lofty mountain and under every leafy tree, and she played the harlot there.

7. And I said after she had done all these things: She shall return to Me. But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw [it].

8. And I saw, because of all that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I sent her away, and I gave her her bill of divorcement, yet treacherous Judah, her sister, did not fear, and she too went and played the harlot.

9. And it was through the lightness of her harlotry, that she polluted the land, and she committed adultery with the stones and the wood.

10. And yet for all this, her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but falsely, says the Lord.

11. And the Lord said to me; Backsliding Israel has proven herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.

12. Go and proclaim these words to the north, and say; Return, O backsliding Israel, says the Lord. I will not let My anger rest upon you, for I am pious, says the Lord; I will not bear a grudge forever.

13. Only acknowledge your iniquity, for you have rebelled against the Lord your God, and you have scattered your ways to strangers under every leafy tree, and you did not hearken to My voice, says the Lord.

14. Return, backsliding children, says the Lord, for I possessed you, and I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

15. And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, and they will feed you with knowledge and understanding.

16. And it shall be, when you multiply and are fruitful in the land in those days, says the Lord, they will no longer say, "The ark of the Lord's covenant," neither shall it come to mind, neither shall they mention it, nor shall they remember it, nor shall it be done anymore.

17. At that time, they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it in the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem, and they shall no longer follow the idea of their evil heart.

18. In those days, the house of Judah will go with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the north land to the land that I caused your forefathers to inherit.

19. And I said: How shall I place you among the sons? But I will give you a desirable land, an inheritance of the beauty of hosts of nations, and I said: Call Me 'my Father,' and do not turn away from following Me.

20. Truly, as a woman betrays her beloved, so have you betrayed Me, O house of Israel, says the Lord.

21. A voice on the rivulets is heard, the weeping of the supplications of the children of Israel, for they perverted their way, they forgot the Lord their God.

22. Return, backsliding children, I will cure your backslidings. "Here we are; we have come to You, for You are the Lord our God.

23. Truly, in vain [we awaited help] from the hills, the multitude of mountains, but in the Lord our God is Israel's salvation.

24. But the shameful thing has consumed the toil of our fathers since our youth, their flocks and their cattle, their sons and their daughters.

25. We lie in our shame, and our disgrace covers us, for we have sinned against the Lord our God-we and our fathers-since our youth until this day, but we did not hearken to the voice of the Lord our God."