1 GLT Saying,“If a man sends away his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’ s, will he return to her again? Would that land not be greatly polluted? And you have been a prostitute{ with} many lovers and would{ you} return to me?— the declaration of Yahweh. BSB BSB: “If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him to marry another, can he ever return to her? Would not such a land be completely defiled? But you have played the harlot with many lovers—and you would return to Me?” declares the LORD.
2 GLT Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see! Where have you not been ravished? By the roads you sat for them, as an Arab in the wilderness. And you have polluted the land with your prostitution and with your evil. BSB BSB: “Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been violated? You sat beside the highways waiting for your lovers, like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
3 GLT So the showers have been withheld and the late rains have not been; yet you have the forehead of a prostitute woman; you refuse to be embarrassed. BSB BSB: Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to be ashamed.
4 GLT Have you not from now called to me:‘My father! You{ are} a close friend of my youth! BSB BSB: Have you not just called to Me, ‘My Father, You are my friend from youth.
5 GLT Will he guard forever? Or will he keep watch to eternity?’ Behold, you have spoken, but you do the evils as you can!” BSB BSB: Will He be angry forever? Will He be indignant to the end?’ This you have spoken, but you keep doing all the evil you can.”
6 GLT Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king,“Do you see what apostate Israel has done? She herself has walked up every high hill and to underneath every leafy tree, and she has been a prostitute there. BSB BSB: Now in the days 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 green tree to prostitute herself there.
7 GLT And{ I} said,‘After her doing all these, she will return to me,’ but she did not return. Then her treacherous sister Judah saw. BSB BSB: I thought that after she had done all these things, she would return to Me. But she did not return, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it.
8 GLT So I saw that because of all circumstances where apostate Israel had committed adultery, I had sent her away and had given a scroll of her divorce to her. But her sister Judah, acting treacherously, did not fear, and she went out, and she herself also prostituted. BSB BSB: She saw that because faithless Israel had committed adultery, I gave her a certificate of divorce and sent her away. Yet that unfaithful sister Judah had no fear and prostituted herself as well.
9 GLT And her prostitution was from thoughtlessness. And she defiled the land, and committed adultery{ with} the stone and the tree. BSB BSB: Indifferent to her own infidelity, Israel had defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.
10 GLT And even in all of this, her treacherous sister Judah has not returned to me with all her heart, but with a lie— the declaration of Yahweh.” BSB BSB: Yet in spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the LORD.
11 GLT Then Yahweh said to me,“Apostate Israel has shown her spirit to be righteous more than Judah acting treacherously! BSB BSB: And the LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than unfaithful Judah.
12 GLT Go and proclaim these words to the north and say,‘Return, apostate Israel!— the declaration of Yahweh— I shall not cause my face to fall against you. Since I{ am} faithful— the declaration of Yahweh— I shall not keep forever. BSB BSB: Go, proclaim this message toward the north: ‘Return, O faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will no longer look on you with anger, for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will not be angry forever.
13 GLT Only, know your iniquity, for you have transgressed against Yahweh your God, and you have spread your ways to strangers under every leafy tree, and to my voice you did not listen— the declaration of Yahweh. BSB BSB: Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the LORD your God. You have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every green tree and have not obeyed My voice,’” declares the LORD.
14 GLT Turn back, apostatizing sons!— the declaration of Yahweh— for I myself am your husband, and I shall take you, one from a city and two from a clan, and I shall bring you{ to} Zion! BSB BSB: “Return, O faithless children,” declares the LORD, “for I am your master, and I will take you—one from a city and two from a family—and bring you to Zion.
15 GLT Then I shall give you shepherds according to my heart, and they will shepherd you{ with} knowledge and insight. BSB BSB: Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”
16 GLT And it will happen that you will increase and be fruitful in the land in those days— the declaration of Yahweh— they will no longer say,“The Box of the Covenant of Yahweh!” And it will not come up in heart, and they will not remember it. And they will not miss{ it}, and another will not be made.’ BSB BSB: “In those days, when you multiply and increase in the land,” declares the LORD, “they will no longer discuss the ark of the covenant of the LORD. It will never come to mind, and no one will remember it or miss it, nor will another one be made.
17 GLT In that time they will call to Jerusalem,‘the throne of Yahweh,’ and all the nations will gather to her— to the name of Yahweh, to Jerusalem. And they will no longer walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart. BSB BSB: At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations will be gathered in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. They will no longer follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.
18 GLT 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 caused your fathers to inherit. BSB BSB: 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 to your fathers as an inheritance.
19 GLT And I myself said,‘How I would set you among sons and give to you a pleasant land, an inheritance of beautiful splendor of nations!’ And{ I} said,‘You shall call me“my father”.’ and from after me you shall not turn away. BSB BSB: Then I said, ‘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 would call Me ‘Father’ and never turn away from following Me.
21 GLT A voice is heard on the bare heights, weeping pleas of the sons of Israel! For they have made their ways crooked; they have forgotten Yahweh their God. BSB BSB: A voice is heard on the barren heights, the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy, because they have perverted their ways and forgotten the LORD their God.
22 GLT “Turn back, apostatizing sons! I will heal your apostasies!”“Behold! We come to you, for you{ are} Yahweh our God! BSB BSB: “Return, O faithless children, and I will heal your faithlessness.” “Here we are. We come to You, for You are the LORD our God.
23 GLT But the lie{ is} from the hills, a commotion of mountains; but with Yahweh our God{ is} the salvation of Israel. BSB BSB: Surely deception comes from the hills, and commotion from the mountains. Surely the salvation of Israel is in the LORD our God.
24 GLT Yet from our youth the shame has consumed the toil of our fathers— their flock and their cattle, their sons and their daughters! BSB BSB: From our youth, that shameful god has consumed what our fathers have worked for—their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.
25 GLT Let us lie down in our shame, and let our humiliation cover us, for against Yahweh our God we have sinned! Ourselves and our fathers, from our youth and to this day, and we have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God!” BSB BSB: Let 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 our youth even to this day we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.