Jeremiah 3

¹“It is commonly said: ‘If a man has divorced his wife, and she departs from him, she will marry another man.’ So why would he return to her again? Is not that woman polluted and defiled? But you have fornicated yourself with many lovers. Even so, return to me, says the Lord, and I will accept you.

²Lift your eyes straight up, and see where you did not debase yourself. You were sitting in the roadways, waiting for them, like a robber in the wilderness. And you have polluted the land by your fornications and by your wickedness.

³For this reason, the rain showers were withheld, and there were no late season rains. You made your face like that of a promiscuous woman; you were not willing to blush.

⁴Therefore, at least from this moment on, call out to me: ‘You are my father, the guide of my virginity.’

⁵Why should you be angry unceasingly? And will you continue in this to the end? Behold, you have spoken and done evil, for you were able to do so.”

⁶And, in the days of king Josiah, the Lord said to me: “Have you not seen what the apostate Israel has done? She has brought herself up to every lofty mountain, and she has lain down under every leafy tree, and she has committed fornication there.

⁷And when she had done all these things, I said: ‘Return to me.’ But she did not return. And her deceitful sister Judah saw this:

⁸that because the apostate Israel had committed adultery, I had dismissed her and had given her a bill of divorce. Yet her deceitful sister Judah was not afraid. But she, too, went and committed fornication herself.

⁹And by the act of her fornication, she defiled the land. For she committed adultery with that which is stone and wood.

¹⁰And after all these things, her deceitful sister Judah has not returned to me with her whole heart, but with lies, says the Lord.”

¹¹And the Lord said to me: “The apostate Israel has justified her own soul by comparing herself to the deceitful Judah.

¹²Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and you shall say: Return, O apostate Israel, says the Lord. For I will not avert my face from you. For I am holy, says the Lord, and I will not be angry forever.

¹³So then, truly acknowledge your iniquity, that you have betrayed the Lord your God, and that you have spread your ways to strangers, under every leafy tree, and that you have not listened to my voice, says the Lord.

¹⁴Convert, O rebellious sons, says the Lord. For I am your leader. And so, I will take you, one from a city, and two from a family, and I will lead you into Zion.

¹⁵And I will give you pastors according to my own heart. And they will feed you with knowledge and doctrine.

¹⁶And when you have been multiplied and increased in the land in those days, says the Lord, they will no longer say: ‘The Ark of the covenant of the Lord!’ And it will not enter into the heart, and they will not call it to mind. It will neither be visited, nor made use of, any longer.

¹⁷In that time, Jerusalem will be called: ‘The Throne of the Lord.’ And all the nations will be gathered to it, in the name of the Lord, in Jerusalem. And they will not walk after the depravity of their own most wicked heart.

¹⁸In those days, the house of Judah will go to the house of Israel, and they will come from the land of the north, at the same time, to the land that I gave to your fathers.

¹⁹But I said: How shall I place you among the sons, and distribute to you a desirable land, the preeminent inheritance of the host of the Gentiles? And I said: You will call me Father, and you will not cease to walk after me.

²⁰But, in the same way that a woman spurns her lover, so also has the house of Israel spurned me, says the Lord.”

²¹A voice has been heard in the highways, the weeping and wailing of the sons of Israel. For they have made their own ways sinful; they have forgotten the Lord their God.

²²“Convert, O rebellious sons! And I will heal your rebelliousness.” “Behold, we are returning to you. For you are the Lord our God!

²³Truly, the hills were liars, with the multitude of the mountains. Truly, the salvation of Israel is in the Lord our God.

²⁴Confusion has devoured the labor of our fathers, from our youth, with their flocks and their herds, with their sons and their daughters.

²⁵We will sleep in our confusion, and our disgrace will cover us. For we have sinned against the Lord our God: we and our fathers, from our youth, even to this day. And we have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God.”

Jeremiah 3

¹It is commonly said: If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and marry another man, shall he return to her any more? shall not that woman be polluted, and defiled? but thou hast prostituted thyself to many lovers: nevertheless return to me, saith the Lord, and I will receive thee.

²Lift up thy eyes on high: and see where thou hast not prostituted thyself: thou didst sit in the ways, waiting for them as a robber in the wilderness: and thou hast polluted the land with thy fornications, and with thy wickedness.

³Therefore the showers were withholden, and there was no lateward rain: thou hadst a harlot's forehead, thou wouldst not blush.

⁴Therefore at the least from this time call to me: Thou art my father, the guide of my virginity:

⁵Wilt thou be angry for ever, or wilt thou continue unto the end? Behold, thou hast spoken, and hast done evil things, and hast been able.

⁶And the Lord said to me in the days of king Josias: Hast thou seen what rebellious Israel hath done? she hath gone of herself upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and hath played the harlot there.

⁷And when she had done all these things, I said: Return to me, and she did not return. And her treacherous sister Juda saw,

⁸That because the rebellious Israel had played the harlot, I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce: yet her treacherous sister Juda was not afraid, but went and played the harlot also herself.

⁹And by the facility of her fornication she defiled the land, and played the harlot with stones and with stocks.

¹⁰And after all this, her treacherous sister Juda hath not returned to me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, saith the Lord.

¹¹And the Lord said to me: The rebellious Israel hath justified her soul, in comparison of the treacherous Juda.

¹²Go, and proclaim these words towards the north, and thou shalt say: Return, O rebellious Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not turn away my face from you: for I am holy, saith the Lord, and I will not be angry for ever.

¹³But yet acknowledge thy iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God: and thou hast scattered thy ways to strangers under every green tree, and hast not heard my voice, saith the Lord.

¹⁴Return, O ye revolting children, saith the Lord: for I am your I husband: and I will take you, one of a city, and two of a kindred, and will bring you into Sion.

¹⁵And I will give you pastors according to my own heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine.

¹⁶And when you shall be multiplied, and increase 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 upon the heart, neither shall they remember it, neither shall it be visited, neither shall that be done any more.

¹⁷At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord: and all the nations shall be gathered together to it, in the name of the Lord to Jerusalem, and they shall not walk after the perversity of their most wicked heart.

¹⁸In those days the house of Juda shall go to the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land which I gave to your fathers.

¹⁹But I said: How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a lovely land, the goodly inheritance of the armies of the Gentiles? And I said: Thou shalt call me father and shalt not cease to walk after me.

²⁰But as a woman that despiseth her lover, so hath the house of Israel despised me, saith the Lord.

²¹A voice was heard in the highways, weeping and howling of the children of Israel: because they have made their way wicked, they have forgotten the Lord their God.

²²Return, you rebellious children, and I will heal your rebellions. Behold we come to thee: for thou art the Lord our God.

²³In very deed the hills were liars, and the multitude of the mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.

²⁴Confusion hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

²⁵We shall sleep in our confusion, and our shame shall cover us, because we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers from our youth even to this day, and we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God.