New American Standard Bible | ►► |
The Defiled Land 1God [a]says, “If a husband divorces his wife And she leaves him And becomes another man’s wife, Will he return to her again? Would that land not be completely defiled? But you are a prostitute with many [b]lovers; Yet you turn to Me,” declares the LORD.
2“Raise your eyes to the bare heights and see; Where have you not been violated? You have sat for them by the roads Like an Arab in the desert, And you have defiled a land With your prostitution and your wickedness.
3“Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you had a prostitute’s [c]forehead; You refused to be ashamed.
4“Have you not just now called to Me, ‘My Father, You are the friend of my youth?
5‘Will He be angry forever, Or keep His anger to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken And have done evil things, And you have [d]had your own way.”
Faithless Israel 6Then the LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every leafy tree, and she prostituted herself there.
7Yet I [e]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.
8And I saw that for all the [f]adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and prostituted herself also.
9And because of the thoughtlessness of her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed [g]adultery with stones and trees.
10Yet 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.
God Invites Repentance 11And the LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel has proved herself to be more righteous than treacherous Judah.
12Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD; ‘I will not [h]look at you in anger. For I am gracious,’ declares the LORD; ‘I will not be angry forever.
13‘Only [i]acknowledge your wrongdoing, That you have revolted against the LORD your God, And have scattered your [j]favors to the strangers under every leafy tree, |
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