Jeremiah 3
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| 1 |
They say, If a man put away his wife, and
she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her
again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played
the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the
LORD.
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| 2 |
Lift up thine eyes unto the high places,
and see where thou hast not been lain with. In the ways hast thou
sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast
polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy
wickedness.
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| 3 |
Therefore the showers have been
withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a
whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
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| 4 |
Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me,
My father, thou art the guide of my youth?
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| 5 |
Will he reserve his anger for
ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken
and done evil things as thou couldest.
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Israel and Judah
Entreated to Repent |
| 6 |
The LORD said also
unto me in the days of Josi'ah the king, 2 Kgs. 22.1--23.30 ยท 2 Chr. 34.1--35.27 Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath
done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green
tree, and there hath played the harlot.
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| 7 |
And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her
treacherous sister Judah saw it.
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| 8 |
And I saw, when for all the causes
whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery, I had put her away,
and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah
feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
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| 9 |
And it came to pass through the lightness
of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery
with stones and with stocks.
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| 10 |
And yet for all this her treacherous
sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but
feignedly, saith the LORD.
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| 11 |
And the LORD said
unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than
treacherous Judah.
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| 12 |
Go and proclaim these words toward the
north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall
upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for
ever.
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| 13 |
Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that
thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy
God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green
tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
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| 14 |
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the
LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will
take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to
Zion.
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| 15 |
And I will give you pastors according
to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and
understanding.
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| 16 |
And it shall come to pass, when ye be
multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the
LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the
covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to
mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.
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| 17 |
At that time they shall call Jerusalem
the throne of the LORD; and all the nations
shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more
after the imagination of their evil heart.
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| 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 north to the land that I have given for an
inheritance unto your fathers.
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| 19 |
But I said, How shall I put thee among
the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of
the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and
shalt not turn away from me.
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| 20 |
Surely as a wife treacherously
departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me,
O house of Israel, saith the LORD.
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| 21 |
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.
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| 22 |
Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee;
for thou art the LORD our God.
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| 23 |
Truly in vain is salvation hoped
for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains:
truly in the LORD our God is the
salvation of Israel.
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| 24 |
For shame hath devoured the labor of
our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons
and their daughters.
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| 25 |
We lie down in our shame, and our
confusion covereth us: 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.
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