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Jeremiah 2:31-4:18
New International Version
Jeremiah 2:31-4:18
New International Version
31 “You of this generation, consider the word of the Lord:
“Have I been a desert to Israel
or a land of great darkness?(A)
Why do my people say, ‘We are free to roam;
we will come to you no more’?(B)
32 Does a young woman forget her jewelry,
a bride her wedding ornaments?
Yet my people have forgotten(C) me,
days without number.
33 How skilled you are at pursuing(D) love!
Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.
34 On your clothes is found
the lifeblood(E) of the innocent poor,
though you did not catch them breaking in.(F)
Yet in spite of all this
35 you say, ‘I am innocent;(G)
he is not angry with me.’
But I will pass judgment(H) on you
because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’(I)
36 Why do you go about so much,
changing(J) your ways?
You will be disappointed by Egypt(K)
as you were by Assyria.
37 You will also leave that place
with your hands on your head,(L)
for the Lord has rejected those you trust;
you will not be helped(M) by them.
3 “If a man divorces(N) his wife
and she leaves him and marries another man,
should he return to her again?
Would not the land be completely defiled?(O)
But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers(P)—
would you now return to me?”(Q)
declares the Lord.
2 “Look up to the barren heights(R) and see.
Is there any place where you have not been ravished?
By the roadside(S) you sat waiting for lovers,
sat like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land(T)
with your prostitution(U) and wickedness.
3 Therefore the showers have been withheld,(V)
and no spring rains(W) have fallen.
Yet you have the brazen(X) look of a prostitute;
you refuse to blush with shame.(Y)
4 Have you not just called to me:
‘My Father,(Z) my friend from my youth,(AA)
5 will you always be angry?(AB)
Will your wrath continue forever?’
This is how you talk,
but you do all the evil you can.”
Unfaithful Israel
6 During the reign of King Josiah,(AC) the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what faithless(AD) Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree(AE) and has committed adultery(AF) there. 7 I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister(AG) Judah saw it.(AH) 8 I gave faithless Israel(AI) her certificate of divorce(AJ) and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear;(AK) she also went out and committed adultery. 9 Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land(AL) and committed adultery(AM) with stone(AN) and wood.(AO) 10 In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return(AP) to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,(AQ)” declares the Lord.(AR)
11 The Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous(AS) than unfaithful(AT) Judah.(AU) 12 Go, proclaim this message toward the north:(AV)
“‘Return,(AW) faithless(AX) Israel,’ declares the Lord,
‘I will frown on you no longer,
for I am faithful,’(AY) declares the Lord,
‘I will not be angry(AZ) forever.
13 Only acknowledge(BA) your guilt—
you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
you have scattered your favors to foreign gods(BB)
under every spreading tree,(BC)
and have not obeyed(BD) me,’”
declares the Lord.
14 “Return,(BE) faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband.(BF) I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherds(BG) after my own heart,(BH) who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. 16 In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The ark(BI) of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered;(BJ) it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne(BK) of the Lord, and all nations(BL) will gather in Jerusalem to honor(BM) the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.(BN) 18 In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel,(BO) and together(BP) they will come from a northern(BQ) land to the land(BR) I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.
19 “I myself said,
“‘How gladly would I treat you like my children
and give you a pleasant land,(BS)
the most beautiful inheritance(BT) of any nation.’
I thought you would call me ‘Father’(BU)
and not turn away from following me.
20 But like a woman unfaithful to her husband,
so you, Israel, have been unfaithful(BV) to me,”
declares the Lord.
21 A cry is heard on the barren heights,(BW)
the weeping(BX) and pleading of the people of Israel,
because they have perverted their ways
and have forgotten(BY) the Lord their God.
“Yes, we will come to you,
for you are the Lord our God.
23 Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills(CC)
and mountains is a deception;
surely in the Lord our God
is the salvation(CD) of Israel.
24 From our youth shameful(CE) gods have consumed
the fruits of our ancestors’ labor—
their flocks and herds,
their sons and daughters.
25 Let us lie down in our shame,(CF)
and let our disgrace cover us.
We have sinned(CG) against the Lord our God,
both we and our ancestors;(CH)
from our youth(CI) till this day
we have not obeyed(CJ) the Lord our God.”
4 “If you, Israel, will return,(CK)
then return to me,”
declares the Lord.
“If you put your detestable idols(CL) out of my sight
and no longer go astray,
2 and if in a truthful, just and righteous way
you swear,(CM) ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’(CN)
then the nations will invoke blessings(CO) by him
and in him they will boast.(CP)”
3 This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:
“Break up your unplowed ground(CQ)
and do not sow among thorns.(CR)
4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
circumcise your hearts,(CS)
you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
or my wrath(CT) will flare up and burn like fire(CU)
because of the evil(CV) you have done—
burn with no one to quench(CW) it.
Disaster From the North
5 “Announce in Judah and proclaim(CX) in Jerusalem and say:
‘Sound the trumpet(CY) throughout the land!’
Cry aloud and say:
‘Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities!’(CZ)
6 Raise the signal(DA) to go to Zion!
Flee for safety without delay!
For I am bringing disaster(DB) from the north,(DC)
even terrible destruction.”
7 A lion(DD) has come out of his lair;(DE)
a destroyer(DF) of nations has set out.
He has left his place
to lay waste(DG) your land.
Your towns will lie in ruins(DH)
without inhabitant.
8 So put on sackcloth,(DI)
lament(DJ) and wail,
for the fierce anger(DK) of the Lord
has not turned away from us.
9 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“the king and the officials will lose heart,(DL)
the priests will be horrified,
and the prophets will be appalled.”(DM)
10 Then I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! How completely you have deceived(DN) this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’(DO) when the sword is at our throats!”
11 At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, “A scorching wind(DP) from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; 12 a wind(DQ) too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments(DR) against them.”
13 Look! He advances like the clouds,(DS)
his chariots(DT) come like a whirlwind,(DU)
his horses(DV) are swifter than eagles.(DW)
Woe to us! We are ruined!(DX)
14 Jerusalem, wash(DY) the evil from your heart and be saved.(DZ)
How long(EA) will you harbor wicked thoughts?
15 A voice is announcing from Dan,(EB)
proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.(EC)
16 “Tell this to the nations,
proclaim concerning Jerusalem:
‘A besieging army is coming from a distant land,(ED)
raising a war cry(EE) against the cities of Judah.(EF)
17 They surround(EG) her like men guarding a field,
because she has rebelled(EH) against me,’”
declares the Lord.
18 “Your own conduct and actions(EI)
have brought this on you.(EJ)
This is your punishment.
How bitter(EK) it is!
How it pierces to the heart!”
Jeremiah 2:31-4:18
King James Version
Jeremiah 2:31-4:18
King James Version
31 O generation, see ye the word of the Lord. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee?
32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
33 Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.
34 Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.
35 Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.
36 Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
37 Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head: for the Lord hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.
3 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.
2 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.
3 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.
4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?
5 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.
6 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.
7 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.
8 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.
9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord.
11 And the Lord said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
12 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.
13 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.
14 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:
15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16 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.
17 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.
18 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.
19 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.
20 Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.
21 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.
22 Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God.
23 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.
24 For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
25 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.
4 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.
2 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.
3 For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
4 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.
5 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.
6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
7 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.
8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us.
9 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.
10 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.
11 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,
12 Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.
13 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.
14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.
16 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.
17 As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the Lord.
18 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.
New International Version (NIV) 
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