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Sin and Shame

The Lord said to the people of Israel:

If a divorced woman marries,
can her first husband
    ever marry her again?
No, because this
    would pollute the land.
But you have more gods
than a prostitute has lovers.
    Why should I take you back?
Just try to find one hilltop
    where you haven't gone
to worship other gods
    by having sex.[a]
You sat beside the road
    like a robber in ambush,
except you offered yourself
    to every passerby.
Your sins of unfaithfulness
    have polluted the land.
So I, the Lord, refused
    to let the spring rains fall.
But just like a prostitute,
you still have no shame
    for what you have done.
You call me your father
    or your long-lost friend;
you beg me to stop being angry,
    but you won't stop sinning.

The Lord Asks Israel To Come Back to Him

(A) When Josiah[b] was king, the Lord said:

Jeremiah, the kingdom of Israel[c] was like an unfaithful wife who became a prostitute on the hilltops and in the shade of large trees.[d] 7-8 I knew that the kingdom of Israel had been unfaithful and committed many sins, yet I still hoped she might come back to me. But she didn't, so I divorced her and sent her away.

Her sister, the kingdom of Judah, saw what happened, but she wasn't worried in the least, and I watched her become unfaithful like her sister. The kingdom of Judah wasn't sorry for being a prostitute, and she didn't care that she had made both herself and the land unclean by worshiping idols of stone and wood. 10 And worst of all, the people of Judah pretended to come back to me. 11 Even the people of Israel were honest enough not to pretend.

12 Jeremiah, shout toward the north:

Israel, I am your Lord
    come back to me!
You were unfaithful
    and made me furious,
but I am merciful,
    and so I will forgive you.
13 Just admit that you rebelled
and worshiped foreign gods
    under large trees everywhere.
14 You are unfaithful children,
but you belong to me.
    Come home!
I'll take one or two of you
from each town and clan
    and bring you to Zion.
15 Then I'll appoint wise rulers
    who will obey me,
and they will care for you
    like shepherds.

16 You will increase in numbers,
    and there will be no need
to remember the sacred chest
    or to make a new one.[e]
17 The whole city of Jerusalem
    will be my throne.[f]
All nations will come here
    to worship me,
and they will no longer follow
    their stubborn, evil hearts.
18 Then, in countries to the north,
you people of Judah and Israel
    will be reunited,
and you will return to the land
    I gave your ancestors.
19 I have always wanted
    to treat you as my children
and give you the best land,
    the most beautiful on earth.
I wanted you to call me “Father”
    and not turn from me.
20 But instead, you are like a wife
    who broke her wedding vows.
You have been unfaithful to me.
    I, the Lord, have spoken.

The People Confess Their Sins

The Lord said:

21 Listen to the noise
    on the hilltops!
It's the people of Israel,
weeping and begging me
    to answer their prayers.
They forgot about me
    and chose the wrong path.
22 I will tell them, “Come back,
and I will cure you
    of your unfaithfulness.”

They will answer,
“We will come back, because you
    are the Lord our God.
23 On hilltops, we worshiped idols
    and made loud noises,
but it was all for nothing—
    only you can save us.
24 Since the days of our ancestors
    when our nation was young,
that shameful god Baal[g] has taken
    our crops and livestock,
    our sons and daughters.
25 We have rebelled against you
    just like our ancestors,
and we are ashamed of our sins.”

Footnotes

  1. 3.2 hilltop … sex: See the note at 2.20.
  2. 3.6 Josiah: Ruled 640–609 b.c.
  3. 3.6 Israel: The northern kingdom (see the note at 2.4).
  4. 3.6 prostitute … trees: See the note at 2.20.
  5. 3.16 make a new one: The sacred chest was probably destroyed or taken away by the Babylonians when they captured Jerusalem in 586 b.c.
  6. 3.16,17 sacred chest … throne: The sacred chest was thought to be God's throne on earth.
  7. 3.24 that shameful god Baal: The Hebrew text has “The Shame,” which was sometimes used as a way of making fun of the Canaanite god Baal.

“If a man divorces(A) his wife
    and she leaves him and marries another man,
should he return to her again?
    Would not the land be completely defiled?(B)
But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers(C)
    would you now return to me?”(D)
declares the Lord.
“Look up to the barren heights(E) and see.
    Is there any place where you have not been ravished?
By the roadside(F) you sat waiting for lovers,
    sat like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land(G)
    with your prostitution(H) and wickedness.
Therefore the showers have been withheld,(I)
    and no spring rains(J) have fallen.
Yet you have the brazen(K) look of a prostitute;
    you refuse to blush with shame.(L)
Have you not just called to me:
    ‘My Father,(M) my friend from my youth,(N)
will you always be angry?(O)
    Will your wrath continue forever?’
This is how you talk,
    but you do all the evil you can.”

Unfaithful Israel

During the reign of King Josiah,(P) the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what faithless(Q) Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree(R) and has committed adultery(S) there. I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister(T) Judah saw it.(U) I gave faithless Israel(V) her certificate of divorce(W) and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear;(X) she also went out and committed adultery. Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land(Y) and committed adultery(Z) with stone(AA) and wood.(AB) 10 In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return(AC) to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,(AD)” declares the Lord.(AE)

11 The Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous(AF) than unfaithful(AG) Judah.(AH) 12 Go, proclaim this message toward the north:(AI)

“‘Return,(AJ) faithless(AK) Israel,’ declares the Lord,
    ‘I will frown on you no longer,
for I am faithful,’(AL) declares the Lord,
    ‘I will not be angry(AM) forever.
13 Only acknowledge(AN) your guilt—
    you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
you have scattered your favors to foreign gods(AO)
    under every spreading tree,(AP)
    and have not obeyed(AQ) me,’”
declares the Lord.

14 “Return,(AR) faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband.(AS) 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(AT) after my own heart,(AU) 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(AV) of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered;(AW) it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne(AX) of the Lord, and all nations(AY) will gather in Jerusalem to honor(AZ) the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.(BA) 18 In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel,(BB) and together(BC) they will come from a northern(BD) land to the land(BE) 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,(BF)
    the most beautiful inheritance(BG) of any nation.’
I thought you would call me ‘Father’(BH)
    and not turn away from following me.
20 But like a woman unfaithful to her husband,
    so you, Israel, have been unfaithful(BI) to me,”
declares the Lord.

21 A cry is heard on the barren heights,(BJ)
    the weeping(BK) and pleading of the people of Israel,
because they have perverted their ways
    and have forgotten(BL) the Lord their God.

22 “Return,(BM) faithless people;
    I will cure(BN) you of backsliding.”(BO)

“Yes, we will come to you,
    for you are the Lord our God.
23 Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills(BP)
    and mountains is a deception;
surely in the Lord our God
    is the salvation(BQ) of Israel.
24 From our youth shameful(BR) 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,(BS)
    and let our disgrace cover us.
We have sinned(BT) against the Lord our God,
    both we and our ancestors;(BU)
from our youth(BV) till this day
    we have not obeyed(BW) the Lord our God.”