Jeremiah 3:1-25 CEV

[1] The LORD said to the people of Israel: If a divorced woman marries, can her first husband ever marry her again? No, because this would pollute the land. But you have more gods than a prostitute has lovers. Why should I take you back? [2] Just try to find one hilltop where you haven't gone to worship other gods by having sex. You sat beside the road like a robber in ambush, except you offered yourself to every passerby. Your sins of unfaithfulness have polluted the land. [3] So I, the LORD, refused to let the spring rains fall. But just like a prostitute, you still have no shame for what you have done. [4] You call me your father or your long-lost friend; [5] you beg me to stop being angry, but you won't stop sinning. [6] When Josiah was king, the LORD said: Jeremiah, the kingdom of Israel was like an unfaithful wife who became a prostitute on the hilltops and in the shade of large trees. [7] I knew that the kingdom of Israel had been unfaithful and committed many sins, yet I still hoped she might come back to me. But she didn't, so I divorced her and sent her away. Her sister, the kingdom of Judah, saw what happened, but she wasn't worried in the least, and I watched her become unfaithful like her sister. [9] The kingdom of Judah wasn't sorry for being a prostitute, and she didn't care that she had made both herself and the land unclean by worshiping idols of stone and wood. [10] And worst of all, the people of Judah pretended to come back to me. [11] Even the people of Israel were honest enough not to pretend. [12] Jeremiah, shout toward the north: Israel, I am your LORD- come back to me! You were unfaithful and made me furious, but I am merciful, and so I will forgive you. [13] Just admit that you rebelled and worshiped foreign gods under large trees everywhere. [14] You are unfaithful children, but you belong to me. Come home! I'll take one or two of you from each town and clan and bring you to Zion. [15] Then I'll appoint wise rulers who will obey me, and they will care for you like shepherds. [16] You will increase in numbers, and there will be no need to remember the sacred chest or to make a new one. [17] The whole city of Jerusalem will be my throne. All nations will come here to worship me, and they will no longer follow their stubborn, evil hearts. [18] Then, in countries to the north, you people of Judah and Israel will be reunited, and you will return to the land I gave your ancestors. [19] I have always wanted to treat you as my children and give you the best land, the most beautiful on earth. I wanted you to call me "Father" and not turn from me. [20] But instead, you are like a wife who broke her wedding vows. You have been unfaithful to me. I, the LORD, have spoken. [21] The LORD said: Listen to the noise on the hilltops! It's the people of Israel, weeping and begging me to answer their prayers. They forgot about me and chose the wrong path. [22] I will tell them, "Come back, and I will cure you of your unfaithfulness." They will answer, "We will come back, because you are the LORD our God. [23] On hilltops, we worshiped idols and made loud noises, but it was all for nothing- only you can save us. [24] Since the days of our ancestors when our nation was young, that shameful god Baal has taken our crops and livestock, our sons and daughters. [25] We have rebelled against you just like our ancestors, and we are ashamed of our sins."