23 "How can you say that you haven't dishonored yourselves and haven't followed other gods-the Baals?

Look how you've behaved in the valley.

Acknowledge what you've done.

You are like a young camel that swiftly runs here and there.

24 You are like a wild donkey that is used to the desert, sniffing the wind while in heat.

All who look for you won't get tired.

They will find you during your monthly period.

25 Don't run until your feet are bare and your throats are dry.

But you say that it's useless.

You love foreign gods and follow them.

26 "As a thief feels ashamed when he's caught, so the nation of Israel will feel ashamed.

Their kings, princes, priests, and prophets will also feel ashamed.

27 You call wood your father.

You call stone your mother.

You've turned your backs, not your faces, to me.

But when you're in trouble, you ask me to come and rescue you.

28 Where are the gods that you made for yourselves?

Let them come and rescue you when you're in trouble.

You have as many gods as you have cities, Judah!

29 "Why do you complain about me?

All of you have rebelled against me," declares Yahweh.

30 "I have punished your children without results.

They didn't respond to correction.

You killed my prophets like a raging lion.

31 "Consider the word of Yahweh, people of this generation.

Haven't I been a desert, a land of thick darkness, for Israel?

Why do my people say that they are free to wander around and no longer come to me?

32 A young woman can't forget her jewelry or a bride her veils.

Yet, my people have forgotten me for countless days.

33 You carefully planned ways to look for love.

You taught your ways to wicked women.

34 You have the blood from poor and innocent people on your clothes.

You didn't kill them for breaking into your home.

35 In spite of all this you say, 'I'm innocent.

Yahweh will turn his anger from me, because I haven't sinned.'

36 You change your mind so easily.

You will be put to shame by Egypt as you were put to shame by Assyria.

37 You will also leave this place with your hands over your head, because Yahweh has rejected those you trust.

You will not be helped by them."

3 1 A saying: If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, her first husband shouldn't go back to her again.

The land would become thoroughly polluted.

"You have acted like a prostitute who has many lovers.

And now you want to come back to me!" declares Yahweh.

2 "Look at the bare hills, and see.

You have had sex with men in every place.

You sat by the roadside waiting for them like a nomad in the desert.

You have polluted the land with your prostitution and wickedness.

3 So the rain has been withheld, and there have been no spring showers.

Yet, you have the shameless look of a prostitute, and you refuse to blush.

4 But now you are calling to me.

You say, 'Ab ! You have been my companion ever since I was young.

5 He won't hold a grudge forever.

He won't always be angry.'

You have said and done all the evil things that you could."

The LORD Offers to Forgive the Ten Tribes of Israel Despite Their Idolatry 6 When Josiah was king, Yahweh asked me, "Did you see what unfaithful Israel did? She went up every high mountain and under every large tree, and she acted like a prostitute there. 7 I thought that after she had done all this that she would come back to me. But she didn't come back, and her treacherous sister Judah saw her. 8 Judah saw that I sent unfaithful Israel away because of her adultery and that I gave Israel her divorce papers. But treacherous Judah, her sister, wasn't afraid. She also acted like a prostitute. 9 Because she wasn't concerned about acting like a prostitute, she polluted the land and committed adultery with standing stones and wood pillars. 10 Even after all this, Israel's treacherous sister Judah didn't wholeheartedly come back to me. She was deceitful," declares Yahweh.

11 Then Yahweh said to me, "Unfaithful Israel was less guilty than treacherous Judah. 12 Go and proclaim these things to the north: "'Come back, unfaithful Israel.

It is Yahweh speaking.

I will no longer frown on you because I'm merciful,' declares Yahweh.

'I will no longer be angry with you.

13 Admit that you've done wrong!

You have rebelled against Yahweh your Elohim.

You have given yourself to strangers under every large tree.

You have not obeyed me,' declares Yahweh.

14 "Come back, you rebellious people," declares Yahweh. "I'm your husband. I will take you, one from every city and two from every family, and bring you to Zion. 15 I will give you shepherds after my own heart. They will be shepherds who feed you with knowledge and insight. 16 In those days you will be fertile, and your population will increase in the land," declares Yahweh. "People will no longer talk about the ark of Yahweh's promise. It will no longer come to mind. They won't remember it, miss it, or make another one. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of Yahweh. All nations will gather in Jerusalem because the name of Yahweh will be found there. They will no longer follow their own stubborn, evil ways. 18 In those days the nation of Judah will live with the nation of Israel. They will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave their ancestors as their own property.

19 "I wanted to treat you like children and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful property among the nations.

I thought that you would call me Ab and wouldn't turn away from me.

20 But like a wife who betrays her husband, so you, nation of Israel, betrayed me," declares Yahweh.

21 The sound of crying is heard on the hills.

It is the crying and the pleading of the people of Israel.

They have become crooked and have forgotten Yahweh their Elohim.

22 "Come back, you rebellious people, and I will forgive you for being unfaithful."

Here we are!

We have come to you because you are Yahweh our Elohim.

23 Truly, the noise from the hills, from the mountains, is the noise of false worship.

Truly, Yahweh our Elohim will rescue us.

24 Ever since we were young, the shameful worship of Baal has taken everything our ancestors worked for, their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.

25 We must lie down in our shame and be covered by our disgrace.

Ever since we were young, we and our ancestors have sinned against Yahweh our Elohim.

We haven't obeyed Yahweh our Elohim .

4 1 Yahweh declares, "If you come back, Israel, if you come back to me, if you take your disgusting idols out of my sight and you don't wander away from me, 2 if you take the oath, "As Yahweh lives . . ."

in an honest, fair, and right way, then the nations will be blessed, and they will be honored by me."

The LORD Will Bring Destruction on Judah from the North 3 This is what Yahweh says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem: Plow your unplowed fields, and don't plant among thorns.

4 Be circumcised by Yahweh, and get rid of the foreskins of your hearts, people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem.

If you don't, my fury will flare up like a fire.

It will burn, and no one will be able to put it out, because of the evil you do.

5 Report this message in Judah.

Make it heard in Jerusalem.

Say, "Blow the ram's horn throughout the land."

Shout loudly and say, "Gather together!

Let's go into the fortified cities."

6 Raise the flag to signal people to go to Zion.

Take cover!

Don't just stand there!

I'm bringing disaster and widespread destruction from the north.

7 A lion has come out of its lair.

A destroyer of nations has set out.

He has left his place to destroy your land.

Your cities will be ruined, and no one will live in them.

8 So put on sackcloth, mourn, and cry because Yahweh's burning anger hasn't turned away from us.

9 "When that day comes," declares Yahweh, "the king and the leaders will lose their courage.