| New International Version | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1"If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers-- would you now return to me?" declares the LORD. | 1God says, "If a husband divorces his wife And she goes from him And belongs to another man, Will he still return to her? Will not that land be completely polluted? But you are a harlot with many lovers; Yet you turn to Me," declares the LORD. |
| 2"Look up to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been ravished? By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness. | 2"Lift up your eyes to the bare heights and see; Where have you not been violated? By the roads you have sat for them Like an Arab in the desert, And you have polluted a land With your harlotry and with your wickedness. |
| 3Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame. | 3"Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you had a harlot's forehead; You refused to be ashamed. |
| 4Have you not just called to me: 'My Father, my friend from my youth, | 4"Have you not just now called to Me, 'My Father, You are the friend of my youth? |
| 5will you always be angry? Will your wrath continue forever?' This is how you talk, but you do all the evil you can." | 5'Will He be angry forever? Will He be indignant to the end?' Behold, you have spoken And have done evil things, And you have had your way." |
| 6During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, "Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there. | 6Then the LORD said to me in the days of Josiah the king, "Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there. |
| 7I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. | 7"I thought, 'After she has done all these things she will return to Me'; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. |
| 8I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. | 8"And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also. |
| 9Because Israel's immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. | 9"Because of the lightness of her harlotry, she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. |
| 10In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense," declares the LORD. | 10"Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception," declares the LORD. |
| 11The LORD said to me, "Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah. | 11And the LORD said to me, "Faithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. |
| 12Go, proclaim this message toward the north: "'Return, faithless Israel,' declares the LORD, 'I will frown on you no longer, for I am faithful,' declares the LORD, 'I will not be angry forever. | 12"Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, 'Return, faithless Israel,' declares the LORD; 'I will not look upon you in anger. For I am gracious,' declares the LORD; 'I will not be angry forever. |
| 13Only acknowledge your guilt-- you have rebelled against the LORD your God, you have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every spreading tree, and have not obeyed me,'" declares the LORD. | 13'Only acknowledge your iniquity, That you have transgressed against the LORD your God And have scattered your favors to the strangers under every green tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,' declares the LORD. |
| 14"Return, faithless people," declares the LORD, "for I am your husband. I will choose you--one from a town and two from a clan--and bring you to Zion. | 14'Return, O faithless sons,' declares the LORD; 'For I am a master to you, And I will take you one from a city and two from a family, And I will bring you to Zion.' |
| 15Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. | 15"Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding. |
| 16In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land," declares the LORD, "people will no longer say, 'The ark of the covenant of the LORD.' It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. | 16"It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land," declares the LORD, "they will no longer say, 'The ark of the covenant of the LORD.' And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again. |
| 17At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. | 17"At that time they will call Jerusalem 'The Throne of the LORD,' and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the LORD; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart. |
| 18In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your ancestors as an inheritance. | 18"In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance. |
| 19"I myself said, "'How gladly would I treat you like my children and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.' I thought you would call me 'Father' and not turn away from following me. | 19"Then I said, 'How I would set you among My sons And give you a pleasant land, The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!' And I said, 'You shall call Me, My Father, And not turn away from following Me.' |
| 20But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you, Israel, have been unfaithful to me," declares the LORD. | 20"Surely, as a woman treacherously departs from her lover, So you have dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel," declares the LORD. |
| 21A cry is heard on the barren heights, the weeping and pleading of the people of Israel, because they have perverted their ways and have forgotten the LORD their God. | 21A voice is heard on the bare heights, The weeping and the supplications of the sons of Israel; Because they have perverted their way, They have forgotten the LORD their God. |
| 22"Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding." "Yes, we will come to you, for you are the LORD our God. | 22"Return, O faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness." "Behold, we come to You; For You are the LORD our God. |
| 23Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills and mountains is a deception; surely in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel. | 23"Surely, the hills are a deception, A tumult on the mountains. Surely in the LORD our God Is the salvation of Israel. |
| 24From our youth shameful gods have consumed the fruits of our ancestors' labor-- their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters. | 24"But the shameful thing has consumed the labor of our fathers since our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. |
| 25Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our ancestors; from our youth till this day we have not obeyed the LORD our God." | 25"Let us lie down in our shame, and let our humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God." |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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