| |
Chapter 3
|
1
|
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. |
