| Holman Christian Standard Bible | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him to marry another, can he ever return to her? Wouldn't such a land become totally defiled? But you! You have played the prostitute with many partners-- can you return to Me? This is the LORD's declaration. | 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. |
| 2Look to the barren heights and see. Where have you not been immoral? You sat waiting for them beside the highways 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. |
| 3This is why the showers haven't come-- why there has been no spring rain. You have the brazen look of a prostitute and refuse to be ashamed. | 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 lately called to Me, "My Father. You were my friend in my youth. | 4"Have you not just now called to Me, 'My Father, You are the friend of my youth? |
| 5Will He bear a grudge forever? Will He be endlessly infuriated?" This is what you have said, but you have done the evil things you are capable of. | 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." |
| 6In the days of King Josiah the LORD asked me, "Have you seen what unfaithful Israel has done? She has ascended every high hill and gone under every green tree to prostitute herself 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: After she has done all these things, she will return to Me. But she didn't return, and her treacherous 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 observed that it was because unfaithful Israel had committed adultery that I had sent her away and had given her a certificate of divorce. Nevertheless, her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid but also went and prostituted herself. | 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. |
| 9Indifferent to her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. | 9"Because of the lightness of her harlotry, she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. |
| 10Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah didn't return to Me with all her heart--only in pretense." This is the LORD's declaration. | 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 announced to me, "Unfaithful Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. | 11And the LORD said to me, "Faithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. |
| 12Go, proclaim these words to the north, and say: Return, unfaithful Israel. This is the LORD's declaration. I will not look on you with anger, for I am unfailing in My love. This is the LORD's declaration. 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 strangers under every green tree and have not obeyed My voice. This is the LORD's declaration. | 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, you faithless children"--this is the LORD's declaration--"for I am your master, and I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will 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.' |
| 15I will give you shepherds who are loyal to Me, and they will shepherd you with knowledge and skill. | 15"Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding. |
| 16When you multiply and increase in the land, in those days"--the LORD's declaration--"no one will say any longer, 'The ark of the LORD's covenant.' It will never come to mind, and no one will remember or miss it. It will never again 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 Jerusalem will be called, Yahweh's Throne, and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of Yahweh in Jerusalem. They will cease to 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 house of Judah will join with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land I have given your ancestors to inherit." | 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. |
| 19I thought: How I long to make you My sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of all the nations. I thought: You will call Me, my Father, and never turn away from 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.' |
| 20However, as a woman may betray her lover, so you have betrayed Me, house of Israel. This is the LORD's declaration. | 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 sound is heard on the barren heights, the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy, for they have perverted their way; they 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. |
| 22Return, you faithless children. I will heal your unfaithfulness. "Here we are, coming 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, falsehood comes from the hills, commotion from the mountains, but the salvation of Israel is only in the LORD our God. | 23"Surely, the hills are a deception, A tumult on the mountains. Surely in the LORD our God Is the salvation of Israel. |
| 24From the time of our youth the shameful one has consumed what our fathers have worked for-- their flocks and their herds, their sons and their 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; let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our fathers, from the time of our youth even to this day. We have not obeyed the voice of 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." |
| Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | 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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