Jeremiah 3:1

Israel Is Shameless

1 “They say, ‘If a man divorces his wife,
And she goes from him
And becomes another man’s,
^aMay he return to her again?’
Would not that ^bland be greatly polluted?
But you have ^cplayed the harlot with many lovers;
^dYet return to Me,” says the Lord.

2 “Lift up your eyes to ^athe desolate heights and see:
Where have you not¹ lain with men?
^bBy the road you have sat for them
Like an Arabian in the wilderness;
^cAnd you have polluted the land
With your harlotries and your wickedness.

3 Therefore the ^ashowers have been withheld,
And there has been no latter rain.
You have had a ^bharlot’s forehead;
You refuse to be ashamed.

4 Will you not from this time cry to Me,
‘My Father, You are ^athe guide of ^bmy youth?

5 ^aWill He remain angry forever?
Will He keep it to the end?’
Behold, you have spoken and done evil things,
As you were able.”

A Call to Repentance

6 The Lord said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: “Have you seen what ^abacksliding Israel has done? She has ^bgone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot.

7 ^aAnd I said, after she had done all these things, ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous ^bsister Judah saw it.

8 Then I saw that ^afor all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had ^bput her away and given her a certificate of divorce; ^cyet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.

9 So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she ^adefiled the land and committed adultery with ^bstones and trees.

10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me ^awith her whole heart, but in pretense,” says the Lord.

11 Then the Lord said to me, ^a“Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.

12 Go and proclaim these words toward ^athe north, and say:
‘Return, backsliding Israel,’ says the Lord;
‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you.
For I am ^bmerciful,’ says the Lord;
‘I will not remain angry forever.

13 ^aOnly acknowledge your iniquity,
That you have transgressed against the Lord your God,
And have ^bscattered your charms
To ^calien deities ^dunder every green tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the Lord.

14 “Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; ^a“for I am married to you. I will take you, ^bone from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to ^cZion.

15 And I will give you ^ashepherds according to My heart, who will ^bfeed you with knowledge and understanding.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?

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What Does Jeremiah 3:1 Mean?

Jeremiah 3:1

God uses the example of a man who divorces his wife, and then she marries another man. At some point, she decides she does not like her second husband and returns to her first husband. The law of God in the Pentateuch forbids such a thing. However, God is saying that His approach is this: His mercy is so great that, even under such a circumstance, He will forgive His wife and accept her back. The subject is marriage and divorce, in this case between God and Israel.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Love and Works

Jeremiah 3:1-5

Jeremiah wrote this over 400 years after Israel's rejection of God as King and about 840 years after making the covenant at Mount Sinai. Even though by the time of this writing God had divorced the Great Harlot Israel, He still continued to have a fractious relationship with her in order to continue the outworking of His purpose and to fulfill His promises to Abraham, including all the end-time prophecies. In other words, He was not yet finished with Israel.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Beast and Babylon (Part Eight): God, Israel, and the Bible

Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Jeremiah 3:1:

Amos 5:1-3

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Jeremiah 3:2 >>

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Israel Is Shameless

A Call to Repentance

What Does Jeremiah 3:1 Mean?

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

A Verse and a Thought,
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