The Polluted Land
Faithless Israel
6 Then the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She (M)went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there.
7 (N)I (g)thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her (O)treacherous sister Judah saw it.
8 And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and (P)given her a writ of divorce, yet her (Q)treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also.
9 Because of the lightness of her harlotry, she (R)polluted the land and committed adultery with (S)stones and trees.
10 Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in (T)deception,” declares the Lord.
God Invites Repentance
11 And the Lord said to me, “(U)Faithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say,
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14
15 “Then I will give you (AD)shepherds after My own heart, who will (AE)feed you on knowledge and understanding.
16 It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land,” declares the Lord, “they will (AF)no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again.
17 At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The (AG)Throne of the Lord,’ and (AH)all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the (AI)name of the Lord; nor will they (AJ)walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
18 (AK)In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together (AL)from the land of the north to the (AM)land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.
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22
“Return, O faithless sons,
(AS)I will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to You;
For You are the Lord our God.
23
(AS)I will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to You;
For You are the Lord our God.
24 “But (AV)the shameful thing has consumed the labor of our fathers since our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
25 Let us lie down in our (AW)shame, and let our humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, (AX)from our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”
Footnotes:
a.
Jeremiah 3:1: ['Lit ', saying]
b.
Jeremiah 3:1: ['Or ', alienated]
c.
Jeremiah 3:1: ['Lit ', companions]
d.
Jeremiah 3:4: ['Lit ', leader]
e.
Jeremiah 3:5: ['Lit ', keep it]
f.
Jeremiah 3:5: ['Lit ', been able]
g.
Jeremiah 3:7: ['Lit ', said]
h.
Jeremiah 3:12: ['Lit ', cause My countenance to fall]
i.
Jeremiah 3:13: ['Lit ', know]
j.
Jeremiah 3:13: ['Lit ', ways]
k.
Jeremiah 3:19: ['Lit ', the]
l.
Jeremiah 3:20: ['Or ', companion]
Cross references:
AE.
Jeremiah 3:15:
Acts 20:28
AI.
Jeremiah 3:17:
Isaiah 60:9
AM.
Jeremiah 3:18:
Amos 9:15
AN.
Jeremiah 3:19:
Psalm 16:6
AP.
Jeremiah 3:20:
Isaiah 48:8
AV.
Jeremiah 3:24:
Hosea 9:10