{Hebrew: Saying.}They 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; {Or, and thinkest thou to return &c?}yet return again to me, saith Jehovah.
Lift 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.
Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; yet thou hast a harlot's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My Father, thou art the {Or, companion}guide of my youth?
Will he retain his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou {Or, hast spoken thus, but hast done &c.}hast spoken and hast done evil things, and hast {Hebrew: been able.}had thy way.
Moreover 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.
{Or, And I said, After she hath done all these things, she &c.}And I said after she had done all these things, {Or, Let her return unto me}She will return unto me; but she returned not: and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
And 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.
And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith Jehovah.
And Jehovah said unto me, Backsliding Israel hath showed herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith Jehovah; I will not {Hebrew: cause my countenance to fall upon you.}look in anger upon you; for I am merciful, saith Jehovah, I will not keep anger for ever.
Only {Or, know}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.
Return, 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.
And I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
And 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 {Or, visit}miss it; neither {Or, shall that be done any more}shall it be made any more.
At 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.
In those days the house of Judah shall walk {Or, to}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.
But I said, How {Or, shall I…nations?}I will put thee among the children, and give thee {Or, the goodliest heritage of the nations}a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of the nations! and I said, {Another reading is, Thou shalt…and shalt not &c.}Ye shall call me My Father, and shall not turn away from following me.
Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah.
A 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.
Return, ye backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings.
Behold, we are come unto thee; for thou art Jehovah our God.
Truly in vain is the help that is looked for from the hills, the {Or, noisy throng}tumult on the mountains: truly in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel.
But the {Hebrew: shame. See chapter 11:13; Hosea 9:10}shameful thing hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
Let 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.
Querverweise zu Jeremia 3,3 Jer 3,3
Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken, that he may declare it? wherefore is the land perished and burned up like a wilderness, so that none passeth through?
Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; that preserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
O Jehovah, {Hebrew: are not thine eyes upon.}do not thine eyes look upon {Or, faithfulness}truth? thou hast stricken them, but they were not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive {Or, instruction}correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
O Jehovah, {Hebrew: are not thine eyes upon.}do not thine eyes look upon {Or, faithfulness}truth? thou hast stricken them, but they were not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive {Or, instruction}correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
Because of the ground which is {Or, dismayed}cracked, for that no rain hath been in the land, the plowmen are put to shame, they cover their heads.
{Or, They shall be put to shame because they have committed abomination; yea, they are not &c.}Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall; at the time that I visit them they shall {Or, stumble}be cast down, saith Jehovah.
and refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them, but hardened their neck, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But thou art {Hebrew: a God of forgivenesses.}a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and forsookest them not.
Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O Jehovah our God? therefore we will wait for thee; for thou hast {Or, done}made all these things.
Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall; in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith Jehovah.
But they refused to hearken, and {Or, turned a stubborn shoulder}pulled away the shoulder, and {Or, made their ears heavy See Isaiah 6:10.}stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
And I will break the pride of your power: and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass;
As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of Jehovah, we will not hearken unto thee.
Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which Jehovah of hosts had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets: therefore there came great wrath from Jehovah of hosts.
And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
But we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of {Hebrew: bread.}victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not when they refused him that warned them on earth, much more shall not we escape who turn away from him {Or, that is from heaven}that warneth from heaven:
and I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor hoed; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and of a stiff heart.
Is not the food cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
The seeds {Or, shrivel}rot under their clods; the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the grain is withered.
How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep {Or, suffer punishment}are made desolate.
O Jehovah, to thee do I cry; for the fire hath devoured the {Or, folds}pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
Yea, the beasts of the field pant unto thee; for the water brooks are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the {Or, folds}pastures of the wilderness.
How weak is thy heart, saith the Lord Jehovah, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an impudent harlot;
in that thou buildest thy vaulted place at the head of every way, and makest thy lofty place in every street, and hast not been as a harlot, {Or, that scoffeth at her hire}in that thou scornest hire.
A wife that committeth adultery! that taketh strangers instead of her husband!
They give gifts to all harlots; but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and bribest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredoms.
And thou art different from other women in thy whoredoms, in that none followeth thee to play the harlot; and whereas thou givest hire, and no hire is given unto thee, therefore thou art different.
And I also have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
Jehovah in the midst of her is righteous; he will not do iniquity; {Hebrew: morning by morning.}every morning doth he bring his justice to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.
And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the grain, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands.