The Polluted Land

1It is commonly said: If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and marry another man, shall he return to her any more? shall not that woman be polluted, and defiled? but thou hast prostituted thyself to many lovers: nevertheless return to me, saith the Lord, and I will receive thee.

2Lift up thy eyes on high: and see where thou hast not prostituted thyself: thou didst sit in the ways, waiting for them as a robber in the wilderness: and thou hast polluted the land with thy fornications, and with thy wickedness.

3Therefore the showers were withholden, and there was no lateward rain: thou hadst a harlot's forehead, thou wouldst not blush.

4Therefore at the least from this time call to me: Thou art my father, the guide of my virginity:

5Wilt thou be angry for ever, or wilt thou continue unto the end? Behold, thou hast spoken, and hast done evil things, and hast been able.

Israel's and Judah's Unfaithfulness

6And the Lord said to me in the days of king Josias: Hast thou seen what rebellious Israel hath done? she hath gone of herself upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and hath played the harlot there. 7And when she had done all these things, I said: Return to me, and she did not return. And her treacherous sister Juda saw, 8That because the rebellious Israel had played the harlot, I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce: yet her treacherous sister Juda was not afraid, but went and played the harlot also herself. 9And by the facility of her fornication she defiled the land, and played the harlot with stones and with stocks. 10And after all this, her treacherous sister Juda hath not returned to me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, saith the Lord.

Invitation to Repentance

(Isaiah 57:14-21; Hosea 14:1-3; Zechariah 1:1-6)

11And the Lord said to me: The rebellious Israel hath justified her soul, in comparison of the treacherous Juda.

12Go, and proclaim these words towards the north, and thou shalt say: Return, O rebellious Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not turn away my face from you: for I am holy, saith the Lord, and I will not be angry for ever.

13But yet acknowledge thy iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God: and thou hast scattered thy ways to strangers under every green tree, and hast not heard my voice, saith the Lord.

14Return, O ye revolting children, saith the Lord: for I am your I husband: and I will take you, one of a city, and two of a kindred, and will bring you into Sion.

15And I will give you pastors according to my own heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine. 16And when you shall be multiplied, and increase 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 upon the heart, neither shall they remember it, neither shall it be visited, neither shall that be done any more. 17At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord: and all the nations shall be gathered together to it, in the name of the Lord to Jerusalem, and they shall not walk after the perversity of their most wicked heart. 18In those days the house of Juda shall go to the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land which I gave to your fathers.

19But I said: How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a lovely land, the goodly inheritance of the armies of the Gentiles? And I said: Thou shalt call me father and shalt not cease to walk after me.

20But as a woman that despiseth her lover, so hath the house of Israel despised me, saith the Lord.

21A voice was heard in the highways, weeping and howling of the children of Israel: because they have made their way wicked, they have forgotten the Lord their God.

22Return, you rebellious children, and I will heal your rebellions. Behold we come to thee: for thou art the Lord our God.

23In very deed the hills were liars, and the multitude of the mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.

24Confusion hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25We shall sleep in our confusion, and our shame shall cover us, because we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers from our youth even to this day, and we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God.