Jeremiah 3

All 25 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.

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1. 1They say, if a man divorces his wife and she leaves him to marry another man, should he return to her? Wouldn't that land be greatly defiled? But you have acted like a harlot with many lovers; yet return to me, says the LORD.
2. 2Look up at the hilltops and see where you have not lain with others. You sat by the roadsides waiting for them, like an Arabian in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
3. 3That's why the rains have been held back and the spring showers never came. Yet you have the brazen face of a prostitute — you refuse to feel any shame.
4. 4Won't you from now on cry out to me, 'My Father, you are the guide of my youth'?
5. 5'Will he stay angry forever? Will he hold this grudge to the end?' That's what you say — but then you keep doing every evil thing you can."
6. 6During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, "Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She went up on every high mountain and under every green tree and prostituted herself there.
7. 7And I said after she had done all these things, 'Return to me.' But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
8. 8I saw that even though I had divorced faithless Israel and sent her away because of all her adultery, her treacherous sister Judah wasn't afraid at all. She went right ahead and prostituted herself too.
9. 9Because she treated her prostitution so casually, she defiled the land, committing adultery with idols of stone and wood.
10. 10Even after all of this, her treacherous sister Judah didn't return to me with her whole heart. She only pretended to," says the LORD.
11. 11Then the LORD told me, "Faithless Israel has proven herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
12. 12Go and announce this message toward the north: "Return, unfaithful Israel," says the LORD. "I will not pour out my anger on you, for I am merciful," says the LORD. "I will not stay angry forever."
13. 13Just admit your guilt — that you rebelled against the LORD your God, that you chased after foreign gods under every green tree, and that you refused to listen to my voice,' says the LORD."
14. 14"Come back, you unfaithful children," says the LORD, "because I am your husband. I will gather you — even if it's just 1 from a city or 2 from a whole clan — and I will bring you to Zion.
15. 15Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16. 16When that day comes and you have grown and multiplied in the land," says the LORD, "no one will talk about the ark of the covenant of the LORD anymore. It won't cross anyone's mind. No one will remember it or visit it, and no one will make another one.
17. 17At that time, Jerusalem will be called the throne of the LORD. All nations will gather there to honor the name of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they will no longer stubbornly follow their evil hearts.
18. 18In those days, the people of Judah will walk alongside the people of Israel. Together they will come from the land of the north back to the land I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.
19. 19But I said, 'How can I place you among the children and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations?' And I said, 'You will call me "My Father" and will not turn away from me.'
20. 20But just as a wife betrays her husband, you have betrayed me, house of Israel," says the LORD.
21. 21A voice was heard on the high places—the weeping and pleas of the children of Israel—for they have twisted their way and have forgotten the LORD their God.
22. 22"Come back, you unfaithful children, and I will heal your faithlessness." "Here we are! We're coming to you, because you are the LORD our God.
23. 23It is useless to hope for salvation from the hills and the many mountains. The salvation of Israel truly comes from the LORD our God.
24. 24For shame has consumed the work of our fathers from our youth—their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.
25. 25We lie down in our shame, and our disgrace covers us, because we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our ancestors, from our youth until this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.