Jeremiah 3 - Easy To Read Version

¹ “If a man divorces his wife,\par and she leaves him\par and marries another man,\par can that man come back to his wife again?\par No! If that man went back to that woman, {\cf2\super [14]} \par then that land would become ‘dirty.’\par Judah, you acted like a prostitute\par with many lovers (false gods).\par And now you want to come back to me!”\par This message was from the Lord.\par

² “Look up to the bare hilltops, Judah.\par Is there any place where you have not\par had sex with your lovers (false gods)?\par You have sat by the road waiting for lovers,\par like an Arab waiting in the desert.\par You made the land ‘dirty’!\par How? You did many bad things\par and you were unfaithful to me.\par

³ You sinned, so the rain has not come.\par There have not been any springtime rains.\par But still you refuse to be ashamed.\par The look on your face is like the look\par that a prostitute has when she\par refuses to be ashamed.\par You refuse to be ashamed of what you did.\par

⁴ But now you are calling me, ‘Father.’\par You said,\par ‘You have been my friend\par since I was a child.’\par

⁵ You also said,\par ‘God will not always be angry at me.\par God’s anger will not continue forever.’\par

⁶ The Lord spoke to me during the time King Josiah was ruling the nation of Judah. The Lord said: “Jeremiah, you saw the bad things that Israel {\cf2\super [15]} did? You saw how she was unfaithful to me. She did the sin of adultery with idols on every hill and under every green tree.

⁷ I said to myself, ‘Israel will come back to me after she has finished doing these evil things.’ But she did not come back to me. And Israel’s unfaithful sister, Judah, saw what she did.

⁸ Israel was unfaithful and Israel knew why I sent her away. Israel knew that I divorced her because she did the sin of adultery. But that did not make her unfaithful sister afraid. Judah, was not afraid. Judah also went out and acted like a prostitute.

⁹ Judah did not care that she was acting like a prostitute. So she made her country ‘dirty.’ She did the sin of adultery by worshiping idols made out of stone and wood.

¹⁰ Israel’s unfaithful sister (Judah) did not come back to me with her whole heart. She only pretended that she came back to me.” This message was from the Lord.

¹¹ The Lord said to me, “Israel was not faithful to me. But she had a better excuse than unfaithful Judah.

¹² Jeremiah, look toward the north and speak this message:

¹³ But you must recognize your sin.\par You turned against the Lord your God.\par That is your sin.\par You worshiped the idols of people\par from other nations.\par You worshiped those idols\par under every green tree.\par You did not obey me.’”\par This message was from the Lord.\par

¹⁴ “You people are unfaithful. But Come back to me!” This message was from the Lord.

¹⁵ Then I will give you new rulers. Those rulers will be faithful to me. They will lead you with knowledge and understanding.

¹⁶ In those days, there will be many of you in the land.” This message is from the Lord.

¹⁷ At that time, the city of Jerusalem will be called the ‘Lord’s Throne.’ All nations will come together in the city of Jerusalem to give honor to the name of the Lord. They won’t follow their stubborn, evil hearts anymore.

¹⁸ In those days, the family of Judah will join the family of Israel. They will come together from a land in the north. They will come to the land I gave to their ancestors. {\cf2\super [18]}

¹⁹ “I, the Lord, said to myself,\par ‘I want to treat you like my own children.\par I want to give you a pleasant land,\par a land more beautiful\par than any other nation.’\par I thought that you would call me ‘Father.’\par I thought that you would always follow me.\par

²⁰ But you have been like a woman\par that is unfaithful to her husband.\par Family of Israel, you have been unfaithful to me!”\par This message was from the Lord.\par

²¹ You can hear crying on the bare hills.\par The people of Israel are crying\par and praying for mercy.\par They became very evil.\par They forgot the Lord their God.\par

²² \{The Lord also said,\}\par “People of Israel, you are unfaithful to me.\par But come back to me!\par Come back and I will forgive {\cf2\super [19]} you\par for being unfaithful to me.”\par

²³ It was foolish to worship idols on the hills.\par All the loud parties on the mountains\par were wrong.\par Surely the salvation of Israel\par comes from the Lord our God.\par

²⁴ That terrible false god Baal has eaten\par everything our fathers owned.\par This has happened since we were children.\par That terrible false god took\par our fathers’ sheep and cattle,\par and their sons and daughters.\par

²⁵ Let us lie down in our shame.\par Let our shame cover us like a blanket.\par We have sinned against the Lord our God.\par We and our fathers have sinned.\par We have not obeyed the Lord our God\par