Jeremiah 3
1
"They say, 'If a man divorces his wife,
And she goes from him
And becomes another man's,
a May he return to her again?'
Would not that b land be greatly polluted?
But you have c played the harlot with many lovers;
d Yet return to Me," says the LORD.
2
"Lift up your eyes to e the desolate heights and see:
Where have you not lain with men?
f By the road you have sat for them
Like an Arabian in the wilderness;
g And you have polluted the land
With your harlotries and your wickedness.
3
Therefore the h showers have been withheld,
And there has been no latter rain.
You have had a i harlot's forehead;
You refuse to be ashamed.
4
Will you not from this time cry to Me,
'My Father, You are j the guide of k my youth?
5
l Will He remain angry forever?
Will He keep it to the end?'
Behold, you have spoken and done evil things,
As you were able."
6
The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: "Have you seen what m backsliding Israel has done? She has n gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot.
7
o "And I said, after she had done all these things, 'Return to Me.' But she did not return. And her treacherous p sister Judah saw it.
8
"Then I saw that q for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had r put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; s yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.
9
"So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she t defiled the land and committed adultery with u stones and trees.
10
"And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me v with her whole heart, but in pretense," says the LORD.
11
Then the LORD said to me, w "Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
12
"Go and proclaim these words toward x the north, and say:
'Return, backsliding Israel,' says the LORD;
'I will not cause My anger to fall on you.
For I am y merciful,' says the LORD;
'I will not remain angry forever.
13
z Only acknowledge your iniquity,
That you have transgressed against the LORD your God,
And have a scattered your charms
To b alien deities c under every green tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,' says the LORD.
14
"Return, O backsliding children," says the LORD; d "for I am married to you. I will take you, e one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to f Zion.
15
"And I will give you g shepherds according to My heart, who will h feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16
"Then it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and i increased in the land in those days," says the LORD, "that they will say no more, 'The ark of the covenant of the LORD.' j It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made anymore.
17
"At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, k to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem. No more shall they l follow the dictates of their evil hearts.
18
"In those days m the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of n the north to o the land that I have given as an inheritance to your fathers.
19
"But I said:
'How can I put you among the children
And give you p a pleasant land,
A beautiful heritage of the hosts of nations?'
"And I said:
'You shall call Me, q "My Father,"
And not turn away from Me.'
20
Surely, as a wife treacherously departs from her husband,
So r have you dealt treacherously with Me,
O house of Israel," says the LORD.
21
A voice was heard on s the desolate heights,
Weeping and supplications of the children of Israel.
For they have perverted their way;
They have forgotten the LORD their God.
22
"Return, you backsliding children,
And I will t heal your backslidings."
"Indeed we do come to You,
For You are the LORD our God.
23
u Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills,
And from the multitude of mountains;
v Truly, in the LORD our God
Is the salvation of Israel.
24
w For shame has devoured
The labor 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 reproach covers us.
x For we have sinned against the LORD our God,
We and our fathers,
From our youth even to this day,
And y have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God."
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 24:1 - 4
When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 2:7
I brought you into a bountiful country, To eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you entered, you defiled My land And made My heritage an abomination.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 2:20
For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; And you said, 'I will not transgress,' When on every high hill and under every green tree You lay down, playing the harlot.
Ezekiel 16:26
You also committed harlotry with the Egyptians, your very fleshly neighbors, and increased your acts of harlotry to provoke Me to anger.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 4:1
If you will return, O Israel," says the LORD, "Return to Me; And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, Then you shall not be moved.
Zechariah 1:3
Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Return to Me," says the LORD of hosts, "and I will return to you," says the LORD of hosts.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 12:2
You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree.
Jeremiah 2:20
For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; And you said, 'I will not transgress,' When on every high hill and under every green tree You lay down, playing the harlot.
Jeremiah 3:21
A voice was heard on the desolate heights, Weeping and supplications of the children of Israel. For they have perverted their way; They have forgotten the LORD their God.
Jeremiah 7:29
'Cut off your hair and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the desolate heights; for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.'
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Cross References
Proverbs 23:28
She also lies in wait as for a victim, And increases the unfaithful among men.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 2:7
I brought you into a bountiful country, To eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you entered, you defiled My land And made My heritage an abomination.
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Cross References
Leviticus 26:19
I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.
Jeremiah 14:3 - 6
Their nobles have sent their lads for water; They went to the cisterns and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty; They were ashamed and confounded And covered their heads.
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Cross References
Zephaniah 3:5
The LORD is righteous in her midst, He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails, But the unjust knows no shame.
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Cross References
Psalms 71:17
O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works.
Proverbs 2:17
Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 2:2
Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says the LORD: "I remember you, The kindness of your youth, The love of your betrothal, When you went after Me in the wilderness, In a land not sown.
Hosea 2:15
I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, As in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
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Cross References
Psalms 103:9
He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.
Isaiah 57:16
For I will not contend forever, Nor will I always be angry; For the spirit would fail before Me, And the souls which I have made.
Jeremiah 3:12
Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: 'Return, backsliding Israel,' says the LORD; 'I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For I am merciful,' says the LORD; 'I will not remain angry forever.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 7:24
Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 2:20
For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; And you said, 'I will not transgress,' When on every high hill and under every green tree You lay down, playing the harlot.
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Cross References
2 Kings 17:13
Yet the LORD testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, saying, "Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 3:11
Then the LORD said to me, "Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
Ezekiel 16:47
You did not walk in their ways nor act according to their abominations; but, as if that were too little, you became more corrupt than they in all your ways.
Ezekiel 16:48
As I live," says the Lord GOD, "neither your sister Sodom nor her daughters have done as you and your daughters have done.
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Cross References
Ezekiel 23:9
Therefore I have delivered her Into the hand of her lovers, Into the hand of the Assyrians, For whom she lusted.
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Cross References
2 Kings 17:6
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
Isaiah 50:1
Thus says the LORD: "Where is the certificate of your mother's divorce, Whom I have put away? Or which of My creditors is it to whom I have sold you? For your iniquities you have sold yourselves, And for your transgressions your mother has been put away.
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Cross References
Ezekiel 23:11
Now although her sister Oholibah saw this, she became more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister's harlotry.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 2:7
I brought you into a bountiful country, To eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you entered, you defiled My land And made My heritage an abomination.
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Cross References
Isaiah 57:6
Among the smooth stones of the stream Is your portion; They, they, are your lot! Even to them you have poured a drink offering, You have offered a grain offering. Should I receive comfort in these?
Jeremiah 2:27
Saying to a tree, 'You are my father,' And to a stone, 'You gave birth to me.' For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble They will say, 'Arise and save us.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 12:2
You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; They grow, yes, they bear fruit. You are near in their mouth But far from their mind.
Hosea 7:14
They did not cry out to Me with their heart When they wailed upon their beds. "They assemble together for grain and new wine, They rebel against Me.
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Cross References
Ezekiel 16:51
Samaria did not commit half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters by all the abominations which you have done.
Ezekiel 16:52
You who judged your sisters, bear your own shame also, because the sins which you committed were more abominable than theirs; they are more righteous than you. Yes, be disgraced also, and bear your own shame, because you justified your sisters.
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Cross References
2 Kings 17:6
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
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Cross References
Psalms 86:15
But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
Jeremiah 12:15
Then it shall be, after I have plucked them out, that I will return and have compassion on them and bring them back, everyone to his heritage and everyone to his land.
Jeremiah 31:20
Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD.
Jeremiah 33:26
'then I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return, and will have mercy on them.'"
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Cross References
Leviticus 26:40
But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me.
Deuteronomy 30:1
Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you.
Deuteronomy 30:2
And you return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul.
Proverbs 28:13
He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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Cross References
Ezekiel 16:15
But you trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your fame, and poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 2:25
Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst. But you said, 'There is no hope. No! For I have loved aliens, and after them I will go.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 12:2
You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 31:32
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.
Hosea 2:19
I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy.
Hosea 2:20
I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the LORD.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 31:6
For there shall be a day When the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim, 'Arise, and let us go up to Zion, To the LORD our God.'
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Cross References
Romans 11:5
Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 23:4
I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking," says the LORD.
Jeremiah 31:10
"Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, And declare it in the isles afar off, and say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, And keep him as a shepherd does his flock.'
Ezekiel 34:23
I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them - My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd.
Ephesians 4:11
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.
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Cross References
Acts 20:28
Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
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Cross References
Isaiah 49:19
For your waste and desolate places, And the land of your destruction, Will even now be too small for the inhabitants; And those who swallowed you up will be far away.
Jeremiah 23:3
But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
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Cross References
Isaiah 65:17
For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
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Cross References
Isaiah 60:9
Surely the coastlands shall wait for Me; And the ships of Tarshish will come first, To bring your sons from afar, Their silver and their gold with them, To the name of the LORD your God, And to the Holy One of Israel, Because He has glorified you.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 29:19
And so it may not happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, 'I shall have peace, even though I follow the dictates of my heart' - as though the drunkard could be included with the sober.
Jeremiah 7:24
Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.
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Cross References
Isaiah 11:13
Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart, And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, And Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
Jeremiah 50:4
In those days and in that time," says the LORD, "The children of Israel shall come, They and the children of Judah together; With continual weeping they shall come, And seek the LORD their God.
Ezekiel 37:16 - 22
"As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: 'For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.' Then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.'
Hosea 1:11
Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel Shall be gathered together, And appoint for themselves one head; And they shall come up out of the land, For great will be the day of Jezreel!
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Cross References
Jeremiah 31:8
Behold, I will bring them from the north country, And gather them from the ends of the earth, Among them the blind and the lame, The woman with child And the one who labors with child, together; A great throng shall return there.
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Cross References
Amos 9:15
I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them," Says the LORD your God.
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Cross References
Psalms 106:24
Then they despised the pleasant land; They did not believe His word.
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Cross References
Isaiah 63:16
Doubtless You are our Father, Though Abraham was ignorant of us, And Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.
Jeremiah 3:4
Will you not from this time cry to Me, 'My Father, You are the guide of my youth?
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Cross References
Isaiah 48:8
Surely you did not hear, Surely you did not know; Surely from long ago your ear was not opened. For I knew that you would deal very treacherously, And were called a transgressor from the womb.
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Cross References
Isaiah 15:2
He has gone up to the temple and Dibon, To the high places to weep. Moab will wail over Nebo and over Medeba; On all their heads will be baldness, And every beard cut off.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 30:17
For I will restore health to you And heal you of your wounds,' says the LORD, 'Because they called you an outcast saying: "This is Zion; No one seeks her."
Jeremiah 33:6
Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.
Hosea 6:1
Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
Hosea 14:4
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from him.
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Cross References
Psalms 121:1
I WILL lift up my eyes to the hills - From whence comes my help?
Psalms 121:2
My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
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Cross References
Psalms 3:8
Salvation belongs to the LORD. Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah
Proverbs 21:31
The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But deliverance is of the LORD.
Jeremiah 17:14
Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved, For You are my praise.
Jeremiah 31:7
For thus says the LORD: "Sing with gladness for Jacob, And shout among the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise, and say, 'O LORD, save Your people, The remnant of Israel!
Jonah 2:9
But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 11:13
For according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars to that shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.
Jeremiah 14:20
We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness And the iniquity of our fathers, For we have sinned against You.
Hosea 9:10
I found Israel Like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers As the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal Peor, And separated themselves to that shame; They became an abomination like the thing they loved.
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Cross References
Ezra 9:6
And I said: "O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.
Ezra 9:7
Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been very guilty, and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to humiliation, as it is this day.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 22:21
I spoke to you in your prosperity, But you said, 'I will not hear.' This has been your manner from your youth, That you did not obey My voice.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.