1They say , If a man put away his wife, and she go from him , and become another man’s, will he return unto her again ? will not that land be greatly polluted ? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers ; yet return again to me , saith Jehovah . 2Lift up thine eyes unto the bare heights , and see ; where hast thou not been lain with ? By the ways hast thou sat for them , as an Arabian in the wilderness ; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness . 3Therefore the showers have been withholden , and there hath been no latter rain ; yet thou hadst a harlot ’s forehead , thou refusedst to be ashamed . 4Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me , My Father, thou art the guide of my youth ? 5Will he retain his anger for ever ? will he keep it to the end ? Behold , thou hast spoken and hast done evil things , and hast had thy way .
The Promise of Restoration
6Moreover Jehovah said unto me in the days of Josiah the king , 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 . 7And I said after she had done all these things , She will return unto me ; but she returned not : and her treacherous sister Judah saw it . 8And I saw , when , for this very cause that backsliding Israel had committed adultery , I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement , yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not ; but she also went and played the harlot . 9And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom , that the land was polluted , and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks . 10And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart , but feignedly , saith Jehovah .
The Call to Return and the New Covenant
11And Jehovah said unto me , Backsliding Israel hath showed herself more righteous than treacherous Judah . 12Go , and proclaim these words toward the north , and say , Return , thou backsliding Israel , saith Jehovah ; I will not look in anger upon you ; for I am merciful , saith Jehovah , I will not keep anger for ever . 13Only acknowledge thine iniquity , that thou hast transgressed against Jehovah thy God , and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree , and ye have not obeyed my voice , saith Jehovah . 14Return , O backsliding children , saith Jehovah ; for I am a husband unto you : and I will take you one of a city , and two of a family , and I will bring you to Zion . 15And I will give you shepherds according to my heart , who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding . 16And it shall come to pass , when ye are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days , saith Jehovah , they shall say no more , The ark of the covenant of Jehovah ; neither shall it come to mind ; neither shall they remember it ; neither shall they miss it ; neither shall it be made any more . 17At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah ; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it , to the name of Jehovah , to Jerusalem : neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart . 18In 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 gave for an inheritance unto your fathers.
The Final Exhortation
19But I said , How I will put thee among the children , and give thee a pleasant land , a goodly heritage of the hosts of the nations ! and I said , Ye shall call me My Father , and shall not turn away from following me . 20Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband , so have ye dealt treacherously with me , O house of Israel , saith Jehovah . 21A voice is heard upon the bare heights , the weeping and the supplications of the children of Israel ; because they have perverted their way , they have forgotten Jehovah their God . 22Return , ye backsliding children , I will heal your backslidings . Behold , we are come unto thee ; for thou art Jehovah our God . 23Truly in vain is the help that is looked for from the hills , the tumult on the mountains : truly in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel . 24But the shameful thing hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth , their flocks and their herds , their sons and their daughters . 25Let us lie down in our shame , and let our confusion cover us ; for we have sinned against Jehovah our God , we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day ; and we have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God .