Jeremias 3

¹ TheyAccording as it is written, (Deu_24:4).say, If a man shall put away his wife, and she shall go from him, and become another man's, shall he return to her again? shall not that landIf he take such a one to wife again.be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with manyThat is, with idols, and with them whom you have put your confidence in.lovers; yetAnd I will not cast you off, but receive you, according to my mercy.return again to me, saith the LORD.

² Lift up thy eyes to the high places, and see where thou hast not been lain with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as theWho dwells in tent and waits for them that pass by to rob them.Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy harlotry and with thy wickedness.

³ Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there hath been noAs God threatened by his law, (Deu_28:24).latter rain; and thou hadst anYou would never be ashamed of your acts and repent: and this impudency is common to idolaters, who will not cease, though they are openly convicted.harlot's forehead, thou didst refuse to be ashamed.

⁴ Wilt thou not from this time cryHe shows that the wicked in their miseries will cry to God and use outward prayer as the godly do, but because they do not turn from their evil, they are not heard, (Isa_58:3-4).to me, My father, thou [art] the guide of my youth?

⁵ Wil he keepe his anger for euer? Will he reserue it to the ende? Thus hast thou spoken, but thou doest euill, euen more and more.

⁶ The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen [that] which backslidingMeaning the ten tribes.Israel hath done? she hath gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.

⁷ And I sayde, when shee had done all this, Turne thou vnto me: but she returned not, as her rebellious sister Iudah sawe.

⁸ And I saw, when for all the causes by which backsliding Israel committed adultery I had putAnd gave her into the hands of the Assyrians.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 theThe Hebrew word may either signify lightness and wantonness, or noise and brute.lightness of her harlotry, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with trees.

¹⁰ And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned to me withJudah pretended for a time that she returned, as under Josiah and other good kings, but she was never truly touched, or wholly reformed, as appeared when opportunity was offered by any wicked prince.her whole heart, but deceitfully, saith the LORD.

¹¹ And the LORD said to me, The backsliding Israel hathIsrael has not declared herself as wicked as Judah, who yet has had more admonitions and examples to call her to repentance.justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

¹² Go and proclaim these words towardWhile the Israelites were now kept in captivity by the Assyrians, to whom he promises mercy, if they will repent.the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; [and] I will not cause my anger to fall upon you: for I [am] merciful, saith the LORD, [and] I will not keep [anger] for ever.

¹³ Only acknowledge thy iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hastThere was no way which you did not hunt to seek after the idols, and to go on a pilgrimage.scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.

¹⁴ O yee disobedient children, turne againe, sayeth the Lorde, for I am your Lorde, and I will take you one of a citie, and two of a tribe and wil bring you to Zion,

¹⁵ And I will giue you pastours according to mine heart, which shal feede you with knowledge and vnderstanding.

¹⁶ And it shall come to pass, when ye shall be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, TheThis is to be understood of the coming of Christ: for then they will not seek the Lord by ceremonies, and all figures will cease.ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they miss [it]; neither shall [that] be done any more.

¹⁷ At that time they shall call JerusalemMeaning, the Church, where the Lord will be present to the world's end, (Mat_28:20).the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered to 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 from the land of theWhere they are now in captivity.north to the land that I have given for an inheritance to your fathers.

¹⁹ But I sayde, Howe did I take thee for children and giue thee a pleasant lande, euen the glorious heritage of the armies of the heathen, and saide, Thou shalt call mee, saying, My father, and shalt not turne from me?

²⁰ Surely [as] a wife treacherously departeth from herThe Hebrew word signifies a friend or companion, and here may be taken for a husband, as it is used also in (Hos_3:1).husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.

²¹ Signifying, that God, whom they had forsaken, would bring their enemies to them, who would lead them captive, and make them to cry and lament.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.This is spoken in the person of Israel to the shame of Judah, who stayed so long to turn to God.Behold, we come to thee; for thou [art] the LORD our God.

²³ Truly the hope of the hilles is but vaine, nor the multitude of mountaines: but in the Lorde our God is the health of Israel.

²⁴ For shame hath devoured the labour of ourFor their idolatry God's vengeance has light on them and theirs.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:They justify not themselves, or say that they would follow their fathers, but condemn their wicked doings and desire forgiveness for the same, as in (Ezr_9:7; Psa_106:6; Isa_64:6).for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.