Jeremiah 3:6-4:4

New International Version

Unfaithful Israel

⁶During the reign of King Josiah,^(A) the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what faithless^(B) Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree^(C) and has committed adultery^(D) there. ⁷I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister^(E) Judah saw it.^(F) ⁸I gave faithless Israel^(G) her certificate of divorce^(H) and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear;^(I) she also went out and committed adultery. ⁹Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land^(J) and committed adultery^(K) with stone^(L) and wood.^(M) ¹⁰In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return^(N) to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,^(O)” declares the Lord.^(P)

¹¹The Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous^(Q) than unfaithful^(R) Judah.^(S) ¹²Go, proclaim this message toward the north:^(T)

“‘Return,^(U) faithless^(V) Israel,’ declares the Lord,
    ‘I will frown on you no longer,
for I am faithful,’^(W) declares the Lord,
    ‘I will not be angry^(X) forever.
¹³Only acknowledge^(Y) your guilt—
    you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
you have scattered your favors to foreign gods^(Z)
    under every spreading tree,^(AA)
    and have not obeyed^(AB) me,’”
declares the Lord.

¹⁴“Return,^(AC) faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband.^(AD) I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. ¹⁵Then I will give you shepherds^(AE) after my own heart,^(AF) who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. ¹⁶In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The ark^(AG) of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered;^(AH) it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. ¹⁷At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne^(AI) of the Lord, and all nations^(AJ) will gather in Jerusalem to honor^(AK) the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.^(AL) ¹⁸In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel,^(AM) and together^(AN) they will come from a northern^(AO) land to the land^(AP) 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,^(AQ)
    the most beautiful inheritance^(AR) of any nation.’
I thought you would call me ‘Father’^(AS)
    and not turn away from following me.
²⁰But like a woman unfaithful to her husband,
    so you, Israel, have been unfaithful^(AT) to me,”
declares the Lord.

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

²²“Return,^(AX) faithless people;
I will cure^(AY) you of backsliding.”^(AZ)

“Yes, we will come to you,
    for you are the Lord our God.
²³Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills^(BA)
    and mountains is a deception;
surely in the Lord our God
    is the salvation^(BB) of Israel.
²⁴From our youth shameful^(BC) gods have consumed
    the fruits of our ancestors’ labor—
their flocks and herds,
    their sons and daughters.
²⁵Let us lie down in our shame,^(BD)
    and let our disgrace cover us.
We have sinned^(BE) against the Lord our God,
    both we and our ancestors;^(BF)
from our youth^(BG) till this day
    we have not obeyed^(BH) the Lord our God.”

4 “If you, Israel, will return,^(BI)
    then return to me,”
declares the Lord.
“If you put your detestable idols^(BJ) out of my sight
    and no longer go astray,
²and if in a truthful, just and righteous way
    you swear,^(BK) ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’^(BL)
then the nations will invoke blessings^(BM) by him
    and in him they will boast.^(BN)”

³This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:

“Break up your unplowed ground^(BO)
    and do not sow among thorns.^(BP)
⁴Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
    circumcise your hearts,^(BQ)
    you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
or my wrath^(BR) will flare up and burn like fire^(BS)
    because of the evil^(BT) you have done—
    burn with no one to quench^(BU) it.

New International Version (NIV)

Jeremiah 3:6-4:4

New International Version

Unfaithful Israel

Cross references

More on the NIV

Bible Gateway Recommends

Jeremiah 3:6-4:4 New International Version

Unfaithful Israel

Cross references

More on the NIV

Bible Gateway Recommends

Jeremiah 3:6-4:4

New International Version