Old/New Testament
3 God calleth his people unto repentance. 14 He promiseth the restitution of his Church. 20 He reproveth Judah and Israel, comparing them to a woman disobedient to her husband.
1 They [a]say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return again unto her? shall not this land [b]be polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many [c]lovers: yet [d]turn again to me, saith the Lord.
2 Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and behold, where thou hast not played the harlot: thou hast sat waiting for them in the ways, as the [e]Arabian in the wilderness: and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms, and with thy malice.
3 Therefore the showers have been restrained, and the [f]latter rain came not, and thou haddest a [g]whore’s forehead: thou wouldest not be ashamed.
4 Didst thou not still cry [h]unto me, Thou art my father, and the guide of my youth?
5 Will he keep his anger forever? will he reserve it to the end? thus hast thou spoken, but thou doest evil, even more and more.
6 The Lord said also unto me, in the days of Josiah the King, Hast thou seen what this rebel [i]Israel hath done? for she hath gone up upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and there played the harlot.
7 And I said, when she had done all this, Turn thou unto me: but she returned not, as her rebellious sister Judah saw.
8 When I saw, how that by all occasions rebellious Israel had played the harlot, I cast [j]her away, and gave her a bill of divorcement: yet her rebellious sister Judah was not afraid, but she went also and played the harlot.
9 So that for the [k]lightness of her whoredom she hath even defiled the land: for she hath committed fornication with stones and stocks.
10 Nevertheless for all this, her rebellious sister Judah hath not returned unto me with [l]her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord.
11 And the Lord said unto me, The rebellious Israel hath [m]justified herself more than the rebellious Judah.
12 Go and cry these words toward [n]the North, and say, Thou disobedient Israel, return, saith the Lord, and I will not let my wrath fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not always keep mine anger.
13 But know thine iniquity: for thou hast rebelled against the Lord thy God, and hast [o]scattered thy ways to the strange gods under every green tree, but ye would not obey my voice, saith the Lord.
14 O ye disobedient children, turn again, saith the Lord, for I am your Lord, and I will take you one of a city, and two of a tribe, and 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 Moreover, when ye be increased and multiplied in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The [p]Ark of the covenant of the Lord: for it shall come no more to mind, neither shall they remember it, neither shall they visit it, for that shall be no more done.
17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem, [q]The throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, even to the Name of the Lord in Jerusalem: and thence forth they shall follow no more the hardness of their wicked 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 [r]North, into the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.
19 But I said, How did I take thee for children, and give thee a pleasant land, even the glorious heritage of the armies of the heathen, and say, Thou shalt call me, saying, My father, and shall not turn from me?
20 But as a woman rebelleth against her [s]husband: so have ye rebelled against me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.
21 [t]A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping, and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and forgotten the Lord their God.
22 O ye disobedient children, return and I will heal your rebellions. [u]Behold, we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God.
23 Truly the hope of the hills is but vain, nor the multitude of mountains: but in the Lord our God is the health of Israel.
24 For confusion hath devoured our [v]father’s labor, from our youth, their sheep and their bullocks, their sons and their daughters.
25 We lie down in our confusion, and our shame covereth us: [w]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 1 True repentance. 4 He exhorteth to the circumcision of the heart. 5 The destruction of Judah is prophesied for the malice of their hearts. 19 The Prophet lamenteth it.
1 O Israel, if thou return, [x]return unto me, saith the Lord: and if thou put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.
2 And thou shalt [y]swear, The Lord liveth in truth, in judgment and in righteousness, and the nations shall be blessed in him, and shall glory in him.
3 For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah, and to Jerusalem,
4 Break up [z]your fallow ground, and sow not among the thorns: be circumcised to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, ye men of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my wrath come forth like fire, and burn, that none can quench it, because of the wickedness of your inventions.
5 [aa]Declare in Judah, and show forth in Jerusalem, and say, Blow the trumpet in the land: cry, and gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into strong cities.
6 Set up the standard in Zion: [ab]prepare to flee, and stay not: for I will bring a plague from the North, and a great destruction.
7 The [ac]lion is come up from his den, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is departed, and gone forth of his place to lay thy land waste, and thy cities shall be destroyed without an inhabitant.
8 Wherefore gird you with sackcloth: lament, and howl, for the fierce wrath of the Lord is not turned back from us.
9 And in that day, saith the Lord, the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes and the Priests shall be astonished, and the [ad]Prophets shall wonder.
10 Then said I, Ah, Lord God, surely thou hast [ae]deceived this people, and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace, and the sword pierceth unto the heart.
11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry [af]wind in the high places of the wilderness cometh toward the daughter of my people, but neither [ag]to fan nor to cleanse.
12 A mighty wind shall come unto me from those places, and now will I also give sentence upon them.
13 Behold, he shall come up as the [ah]clouds, and his chariots shall be as a tempest: his horses are lighter than eagles. [ai]Woe unto us, for we are destroyed.
14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved: how long shall thy wicked thoughts remain within thee?
15 For a voice declareth from [aj]Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount [ak]Ephraim.
16 Make ye mention of the heathen, and publish in Jerusalem, Behold, the scouts come from a far country, and cry out against the cities of Judah.
17 They have compassed her about as the watchmen of the [al]field, because it hath provoked me unto wrath, saith the Lord.
18 Thy ways and thine inventions have procured thee these things, such is thy wickedness: therefore it shall be bitter, therefore it shall pierce unto thine heart.
19 My belly, my [am]belly, I am pained, even at the very heart: mine heart is troubled within me: I cannot be still: for my soul hath heard the sound of the trumpet, and the alarm of the battle.
20 Destruction upon destruction is cried, for the whole land is wasted: suddenly are my [an]tents destroyed, and my curtains in a moment.
21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me: they are foolish children, and have none understanding: [ao]they are wise to do evil, but to do well they have no knowledge.
23 I have looked upon the earth, and lo, it was without form and [ap]void: and to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I beheld the mountains: and lo, they trembled, and all the hills shook.
25 I beheld, and lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heaven were departed.
26 I beheld, and lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce wrath.
27 For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate: yet will I [aq]not make a full end.
28 Therefore shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above shall be darkened, because I have pronounced it: I have thought it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
29 The whole city shall flee, for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen: they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.
30 And when thou shalt be destroyed, what wilt thou do? Though thou [ar]clothest thyself with scarlet, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou paintest thy face with colors, yet shalt thou trim thyself in vain: for thy lovers will abhor thee and seek thy life.
31 For I have heard a noise as of a woman travailing, or as one laboring of her first child, even the voice of the daughter Zion that sigheth and stretcheth out her hands: [as]woe is me now: for my soul fainteth because of the murderers.
5 1 In Judah no righteous man is found, neither among the people nor the rulers. 15 Wherefore Judah is destroyed of the Chaldeans.
1 Run to and fro by the streets of Jerusalem, and behold now, and know, and inquire in the open places thereof, if ye can find a man, or if there be any that executeth judgment, and seeketh the truth, and I will spare [at]it.
2 For though they say, The [au]Lord liveth, yet do they swear falsely.
3 O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the [av]truth? thou hast [aw]stricken them, but they have not sorrowed: thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a stone, and have refused to return.
4 Therefore I said, Surely they are poor, they are foolish, for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God.
5 I will get me unto the [ax]great men, and will speak unto them: for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
6 Wherefore a [ay]lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the wilderness shall destroy them: a leopard shall watch over their cities: everyone that goeth out thence, shall be torn in pieces, because their trespasses are many, and their rebellions are increased.
7 How should I spare thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and [az]sworn by them that are no gods: though I fed them to the full, yet they committed adultery, and assembled themselves by companies in the harlot’s houses.
8 They rose up in the morning like fed horses: for every man (A)neighed after his neighbor’s wife.
9 Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10 [ba]Climb up upon their walls, and destroy them, but make not a full end: [bb]take away their battlements, for they are not the Lord’s.
11 For the house of Israel, and the house of Judah have grievously trespassed against me, saith the Lord.
12 They have [bc]denied the Lord, and said, It is not he, neither shall the plague come upon us, neither shall we see sword nor famine.
13 And the Prophets shall be as [bd]wind, and the word is [be]not in them: thus shall it come unto them.
14 Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Because ye speak such words, behold, I will put my words into [bf]thy mouth, like a fire, and this people shall be as wood, and it shall devour them.
15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you [bg]from far, O house of Israel, saith the Lord, which is a mighty nation, and an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.
16 Whose quiver is as an [bh]open sepulcher: they are all very strong.
17 And they shall eat thine harvest and thy bread: they shall devour thy sons and thy daughters: they shall eat up thy sheep and thy bullocks: they shall eat thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall destroy with the sword thy fenced cities, wherein thou didst trust.
18 Nevertheless, at those days, saith the Lord, I will not make a full end of [bi]you.
19 And when (B)ye shall say, Wherefore doth the Lord our God do these things unto us? then shalt [bj]thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and [bk]without understanding, which have (C)eyes and see not, which have ears and hear not.
22 Fear ye not me, saith the Lord? or will ye not be afraid at my presence, which have placed the sand for the (D)bounds of the sea by the perpetual decree that it cannot pass it, and though the waves thereof rage, yet can they not prevail, though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
23 But this people hath an unfaithful and rebellious heart: they are departed and gone.
24 For they say not in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain both early and late in due season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
25 Yet your [bl]iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have hindered good things from you.
26 For among my people are found wicked persons, that lay wait as he that setteth snares: they have made a pit, to catch men.
27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: thereby they are become great and waxen rich.
28 They are waxen fat and shining: they do overpass the deeds of the wicked: (E)they execute no judgment, no not the judgment of the fatherless: yet they [bm]prosper, though they execute no judgment for the poor.
29 Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? or shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30 An horrible and filthy thing is committed in the land.
31 The [bn]prophets prophesy lies, and the priests [bo]receive gifts in their hands, and my people delight therein. What will ye then do in the end thereof?
4 1 He condemneth as well false doctrine, 3 of marriage and the choice of meats, 7 as also profane fables: 8 and commendeth the godly exercise, 13 and the daily reading of the Scriptures.
1 Now [a]the Spirit speaketh evidently, that in the latter times some shall depart from the [b]faith, and shall give heed unto spirits of error, and doctrines of devils,
2 [c]Which speak lies through [d]hypocrisy, and have their [e]consciences burned with an hot iron,
3 [f]Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats [g]which God hath created [h]to be received [i]with giving thanks of them which believe and know the truth.
4 [j]For every creature of God is good, and nothing ought to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving.
5 [k]For it is [l]sanctified by the [m]word of God, and prayer.
6 [n]If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, which hast been nourished up in the words of faith, and of good doctrine which thou hast continually [o]followed.
7 [p]But cast away profane, and old wives’ fables, [q]and exercise thyself unto [r]godliness.
8 [s]For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, which hath the promise of the life present, and of that that is to come.
9 [t]This is a true saying, and by all means worthy to be received.
10 For therefore we labor and are rebuked, because we trust in the living God, which is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe.
11 These things warn and teach.
12 [u]Let no man despise thy youth, but be unto them that believe, an ensample, in word, in conversation, in love, in spirit, in faith and in pureness.
13 [v]Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine.
14 Despise not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the company of the Eldership.
15 These things exercise, and give thyself unto them, that it may be seen how thou profitest among all men.
16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto learning: continue therein: for in doing this thou shalt both [w]save thyself, and them that hear thee.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.