3¹ "If a man divorces a woman and she goes and marries someone else, he will not take her back again, for that would surely corrupt the land. But you have prostituted yourself with many lovers, so why are you trying to come back to me?" says the Lord . ² "Look at the shrines on every hilltop. Is there any place you have not been defiled by your adultery with other gods? You sit like a prostitute beside the road waiting for a customer. You sit alone like a nomad in the desert. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and your wickedness. ³ That's why even the spring rains have failed. For you are a brazen prostitute and completely shameless. ⁴ Yet you say to me, 'Father, you have been my guide since my youth. ⁵ Surely you won't be angry forever! Surely you can forget about it!' So you talk, but you keep on doing all the evil you can."

Israel and Judah Entreated to Repent

⁶ During the reign of King Josiah, the Lord said to me, "Have you seen what fickle Israel has done? Like a wife who commits adultery, Israel has worshiped other gods on every hill and under every green tree. ⁷ I thought, 'After she has done all this, she will return to me.' But she did not return, and her faithless sister Judah saw this. ⁸ She saw that I divorced faithless Israel because of her adultery. But that treacherous sister Judah had no fear, and now she, too, has left me and given herself to prostitution. ⁹ Israel treated it all so lightly-she thought nothing of committing adultery by worshiping idols made of wood and stone. So now the land has been polluted. ¹⁰ But despite all this, her faithless sister Judah has never sincerely returned to me. She has only pretended to be sorry. I, the Lord, have spoken!" ¹¹ Then the Lord said to me, "Even faithless Israel is less guilty than treacherous Judah!

¹² Therefore, go and give this message to Israel. This is what the Lord says: "O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever. ¹³ Only acknowledge your guilt. Admit that you rebelled against the Lord your God and committed adultery against him by worshiping idols under every green tree. Confess that you refused to listen to my voice. I, the Lord, have spoken! ¹⁴ "Return home, you wayward children," says the Lord, "for I am your master. I will bring you back to the land of Israel - one from this town and two from that family- from wherever you are scattered. ¹⁵ And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will guide you with knowledge and understanding. ¹⁶ "And when your land is once more filled with people," says the Lord, "you will no longer wish for 'the good old days' when you possessed the Ark of the Lord 's Covenant. You will not miss those days or even remember them, and there will be no need to rebuild the Ark. ¹⁷ In that day Jerusalem will be known as 'The Throne of the Lord .' All nations will come there to honor the Lord . They will no longer stubbornly follow their own evil desires. ¹⁸ In those days the people of Judah and Israel will return together from exile in the north. They will return to the land I gave your ancestors as an inheritance forever. ¹⁹ "I thought to myself, 'I would love to treat you as my own children!' I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land- the finest possession in the world. I looked forward to your calling me 'Father,' and I wanted you never to turn from me.

²⁰ But you have been unfaithful to me, you people of Israel! You have been like a faithless wife who leaves her husband. I, the Lord, have spoken." ²¹ Voices are heard high on the windswept mountains, the weeping and pleading of Israel's people. For they have chosen crooked paths and have forgotten the Lord their God. ²² "My wayward children," says the Lord, "come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts." "Yes, we're coming," the people reply, "for you are the Lord our God. ²³ Our worship of idols on the hills and our religious orgies on the mountains are a delusion. Only in the Lord our God will Israel ever find salvation. ²⁴ From childhood we have watched as everything our ancestors worked for- their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters- was squandered on a delusion. ²⁵ Let us now lie down in shame and cover ourselves with dishonor, for we and our ancestors have sinned against the Lord our God. From our childhood to this day we have never obeyed him."

4¹ "O Israel," says the Lord, "if you wanted to return to me, you could. You could throw away your detestable idols and stray away no more. ² Then when you swear by my name, saying, 'As surely as the Lord lives,' you could do so with truth, justice, and righteousness. Then you would be a blessing to the nations of the world, and all people would come and praise my name."

³ This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: "Plow up the hard ground of your hearts! Do not waste your good seed among thorns. ⁴ O people of Judah and Jerusalem, surrender your pride and power. Change your hearts before the Lord, or my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire because of all your sins.

Judah Threatened with Invasion

⁵ "Shout to Judah, and broadcast to Jerusalem! Tell them to sound the alarm throughout the land: 'Run for your lives! Flee to the fortified cities!' ⁶ Raise a signal flag as a warning for Jerusalem : 'Flee now! Do not delay!' For I am bringing terrible destruction upon you from the north." ⁷ A lion stalks from its den, a destroyer of nations. It has left its lair and is headed your way. It's going to devastate your land! Your towns will lie in ruins, with no one living in them anymore. ⁸ So put on clothes of mourning and weep with broken hearts, for the fierce anger of the Lord is still upon us. ⁹ "In that day," says the Lord, "the king and the officials will tremble in fear. The priests will be struck with horror, and the prophets will be appalled." ¹⁰ Then I said, "O Sovereign Lord, the people have been deceived by what you said, for you promised peace for Jerusalem. But the sword is held at their throats!" ¹¹ The time is coming when the Lord will say to the people of Jerusalem, "My dear people, a burning wind is blowing in from the desert, and it's not a gentle breeze useful for winnowing grain. ¹² It is a roaring blast sent by me! Now I will pronounce your destruction!" ¹³ Our enemy rushes down on us like storm clouds! His chariots are like whirlwinds. His horses are swifter than eagles. How terrible it will be, for we are doomed! ¹⁴ O Jerusalem, cleanse your heart that you may be saved. How long will you harbor your evil thoughts? ¹⁵ Your destruction has been announced from Dan and the hill country of Ephraim. ¹⁶ "Warn the surrounding nations and announce this to Jerusalem: The enemy is coming from a distant land, raising a battle cry against the towns of Judah. ¹⁷ They surround Jerusalem like watchmen around a field, for my people have rebelled against me," says the Lord . ¹⁸ "Your own actions have brought this upon you. This punishment is bitter, piercing you to the heart!"

¹⁹ My heart, my heart-I writhe in pain! My heart pounds within me! I cannot be still. For I have heard the blast of enemy trumpets and the roar of their battle cries. ²⁰ Waves of destruction roll over the land, until it lies in complete desolation. Suddenly my tents are destroyed; in a moment my shelters are crushed. ²¹ How long must I see the battle flags and hear the trumpets of war? ²² "My people are foolish and do not know me," says the Lord . "They are stupid children who have no understanding. They are clever enough at doing wrong, but they have no idea how to do right!" ²³ I looked at the earth, and it was empty and formless. I looked at the heavens, and there was no light. ²⁴ I looked at the mountains and hills, and they trembled and shook. ²⁵ I looked, and all the people were gone. All the birds of the sky had flown away. ²⁶ I looked, and the fertile fields had become a wilderness. The towns lay in ruins, crushed by the Lord 's fierce anger. ²⁷ This is what the Lord says: "The whole land will be ruined, but I will not destroy it completely. ²⁸ The earth will mourn and the heavens will be draped in black because of my decree against my people. I have made up my mind and will not change it." ²⁹ At the noise of charioteers and archers, the people flee in terror. They hide in the bushes and run for the mountains. All the towns have been abandoned- not a person remains! ³⁰ What are you doing, you who have been plundered? Why do you dress up in beautiful clothing and put on gold jewelry? Why do you brighten your eyes with mascara? Your primping will do you no good! The allies who were your lovers despise you and seek to kill you. ³¹ I hear a cry, like that of a woman in labor, the groans of a woman giving birth to her first child. It is beautiful Jerusalem gasping for breath and crying out, "Help! I'm being murdered!"

The Sins of Jerusalem and Judah

5¹ "Run up and down every street in Jerusalem," says the Lord . "Look high and low; search throughout the city! If you can find even one just and honest person, I will not destroy the city. ² But even when they are under oath, saying, 'As surely as the Lord lives,' they are still telling lies!" ³ Lord, you are searching for honesty. You struck your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to be corrected. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent. ⁴ Then I said, "But what can we expect from the poor? They are ignorant. They don't know the ways of the Lord . They don't understand God's laws. ⁵ So I will go and speak to their leaders. Surely they know the ways of the Lord and understand God's laws." But the leaders, too, as one man, had thrown off God's yoke and broken his chains. ⁶ So now a lion from the forest will attack them; a wolf from the desert will pounce on them. A leopard will lurk near their towns, tearing apart any who dare to venture out. For their rebellion is great, and their sins are many. ⁷ "How can I pardon you? For even your children have turned from me. They have sworn by gods that are not gods at all! I fed my people until they were full. But they thanked me by committing adultery and lining up at the brothels. ⁸ They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor's wife. ⁹ Should I not punish them for this?" says the Lord . "Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?

¹⁰ "Go down the rows of the vineyards and destroy the grapevines, leaving a scattered few alive. Strip the branches from the vines, for these people do not belong to the Lord . ¹¹ The people of Israel and Judah are full of treachery against me," says the Lord . ¹² "They have lied about the Lord and said, 'He won't bother us! No disasters will come upon us. There will be no war or famine. ¹³ God's prophets are all windbags who don't really speak for him. Let their predictions of disaster fall on themselves!'" ¹⁴ Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Heaven's Armies says: "Because the people are talking like this, my messages will flame out of your mouth and burn the people like kindling wood. ¹⁵ O Israel, I will bring a distant nation against you," says the Lord . "It is a mighty nation, an ancient nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you cannot understand. ¹⁶ Their weapons are deadly; their warriors are mighty. ¹⁷ They will devour the food of your harvest; they will devour your sons and daughters. They will devour your flocks and herds; they will devour your grapes and figs. And they will destroy your fortified towns, which you think are so safe. ¹⁸ "Yet even in those days I will not blot you out completely," says the Lord . ¹⁹ "And when your people ask, 'Why did the Lord our God do all this to us?' you must reply, 'You rejected him and gave yourselves to foreign gods in your own land. Now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.'

²⁰ "Make this announcement to Israel, and say this to Judah: ²¹ Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. ²² Have you no respect for me? Why don't you tremble in my presence? I, the Lord, define the ocean's sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set. ²³ But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned me. ²⁴ They do not say from the heart, 'Let us live in awe of the Lord our God, for he gives us rain each spring and fall, assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.'

²⁵ Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things. ²⁶ "Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait for victims like a hunter hiding in a blind. They continually set traps to catch people. ²⁷ Like a cage filled with birds, their homes are filled with evil plots. And now they are great and rich. ²⁸ They are fat and sleek, and there is no limit to their wicked deeds. They refuse to provide justice to orphans and deny the rights of the poor. ²⁹ Should I not punish them for this?" says the Lord . "Should I not avenge myself against such a nation? ³⁰ A horrible and shocking thing has happened in this land- ³¹ the prophets give false prophecies, and the priests rule with an iron hand. Worse yet, my people like it that way! But what will you do when the end comes?

Prediction of Apostasy

4¹ Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. ² These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead. ³ They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth. ⁴ Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. ⁵ For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer.

A Good Minister of Jesus Christ

⁶ If you explain these things to the brothers and sisters, Timothy, you will be a worthy servant of Christ Jesus, one who is nourished by the message of faith and the good teaching you have followed. ⁷ Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives' tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. ⁸ "Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come." ⁹ This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it. ¹⁰ This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers. ¹¹ Teach these things and insist that everyone learn them. ¹² Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. ¹³ Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them. ¹⁴ Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you. ¹⁵ Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress. ¹⁶ Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.