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.
02 Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and
see where thou hast not been lien 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.
03 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.
04 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My
father, thou art the guide of my youth?
05 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.
06 The Lord said also 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.
07 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.
08 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.
09 And it came to pass through the lightness of
her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and
committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister
Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole
heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord.
11 And the Lord said unto me, The backsliding
Israel hath justified herself more than
treacherous Judah.
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.
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:
15 And I will give you pastors according to mine
heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and
understanding.
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.
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.
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.
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.
20 Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from
her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with
me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.
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.
22 Return, ye backsliding children, and I will
heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto
thee; for thou art the Lord our God.
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.
24 For shame hath devoured the labour of our
fathers from our youth; their flocks and their
herds, their sons and their daughters.
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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