1 “If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s, will he return to her again? Would not that land be greatly defiled? Yet you have played the harlot with many companions {reim: close associates}; and would you return to Me?” declares the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Judge}.
2 Lift up your eyes to the high places and see! Where have you not been violated? By the roads you have sat waiting for them like an Arab in the wilderness, and you have polluted the land with your harlotries {biznutayikh: acts of unfaithfulness} and with your evil deeds {ra’ateikh: moral wickedness}.
3 Therefore the showers were withheld, and the latter rain did not occur; moreover, you had the forehead of a prostitute {zonah: cultic prostitute}, and you refused to be ashamed {hikkalem: show remorse}.
4 Have you not just now called to Me, “My Father {avi: Paternal Protector}, You are the friend {alluf: Trusted Companion} of my youth”?
5 Will He {YHWH, Faithful Preserver} keep His anger forever or guard it to the end? Behold, you have spoken and you have done the evil things {haraot: deliberate wrongs} and have been able.
6 And the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge} said to me in the days of Josiah the king, "Have you seen what backsliding {meshubah: covenant breaking} Israel has done? She went up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there she played the harlot."
7 And I {YHWH, Covenant Restorer} said, "After she had done all these things, she would return to Me." But she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah {Yehudah: southern kingdom of Israel} saw it.
8 And I {YHWH, Covenant Judge} saw that because of all the adulteries committed by apostate Israel {meshubah: unfaithful nation}, I sent her away and gave her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she also went and played the harlot.
9 And it came to pass, because of the lightness of her harlotry {zenutah: prostitution}, that she polluted the land {haaretz: whole country}, and she committed adultery with the stone and with the tree.
10 And even with all this, her treacherous {bagodah: acted faithlessly} sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but only in falsehood," declares the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Witness}.
11 And the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge} said to me, “Backsliding Israel has justified herself {nafshah: inner being} more than treacherous {mibogedah: treacherous one} Judah.”
12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, “Return, O faithless Israel,” declares the LORD {YHWH, Gracious Judge}. “I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful {chasid: steadfastly loving},” declares the LORD. “I will not keep anger forever.”
13 Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have rebelled against the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheik, Covenant Judge}, and you have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and to My voice you have not listened {shema: hear and obey}, declares the LORD.
14 Return, O rebellious children—declares the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Restorer}—for I am a husband to you {ba’alti: covenant master}; and I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
15 And I {YHWH, Shepherd Appointer} will give you shepherds {ro'im: spiritual leaders} according to my heart, and they will shepherd you with knowledge and understanding.
16 And it shall come to pass, when you multiply and increase in the land in those days,” declares the LORD {YHWH, Prophetic Speaker}, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark {aron: Divine Presence} of the covenant of the LORD.’ It shall not come to mind; nor shall they remember it; nor shall they miss it; nor shall it be made again.”
17 At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD {YHWH, Universal Sovereign}, and all the nations will be gathered to her, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem; and they will no longer walk after the stubbornness {sherirut: hardness} of their evil heart.
18 In those days the house of Judah {beit-yehudah: tribe descended from Judah} will walk with the house of Israel, and together they will come from the land of the north to the land which I {YHWH, Inheritance-Giver} have given as an inheritance to your fathers.
19 And I said, “How can I place you among the children and give you a land of delight {chemdah: prized joy} and an inheritance of beauty among the hosts of nations?” And I said, “You shall call Me ‘My Father’ {avi: parental source}, and you will not turn away from after Me.”
20 Surely, just as a wife {ishah: woman joined in covenant} treacherously departs from her companion, so you have acted treacherously against Me, house of Israel, declares the LORD {YHWH, Faithful Covenant Judge}.
21 A voice is heard upon the high places—the weeping and supplications of the children of Israel—because they have perverted their way and have forgotten the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Redeemer} their God {Elohim, Protector of Israel}.
22 Return, O wayward sons; I will heal your apostasies {meshuboteikhem: turning away}. Behold, we have come to You, for You are the LORD our God {YHWH Eloheinu, Covenant Restorer}.
23 Surely, in vain {akhen: Utter Futility} is salvation hoped for from the hills and from the multitude of mountains; surely, in the LORD our God {YHWH Eloheinu, Sovereign Deliverer} is the salvation of Israel.
24 And the shame {boshet: idol worship} has devoured the labor {yegia: the fruit of toil} of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace {kelimah: utter humiliation} cover us; for we have sinned against the LORD our God {YHWH Eloheinu, Covenant Judge}, we and our fathers, from our youth until this day, and we have not listened to the voice of the LORD our God.