Jeremiah 3

1 It is seid comunli, If a man forsakith his wijf, and sche go awei fro hym, and be weddid to an othere hosebonde, whether he schal turne ayen more to hir? whether thilke womman schal not be defoulid, and maad vncleene? Forsothe thou hast do fornycacioun with many loueris; netheles turne thou ayen to me, `seith the Lord, and Y schal resseyue thee.

If a man divorces his wife and she goes and marries someone else, could he ever go back to her? Wouldn't the country be made totally unclean by this? But you have done worse by prostituting yourselves with many lovers, and now you want to come back to me? declares the Lord.

2 Reise thin iyen in to streiyt, and se, where thou art not cast doun. Thou hast setun in weies, abidynge hem as a theef in wildirnesse, and thou hast defoulid the erthe in thi fornicaciouns and in thi malices.

Look up at the bare hilltops. Is there anywhere that you haven't had sex? You sat at the roadside like someone from the desert waiting for your lovers to pass by. You have made the land unclean with your prostitution and evil.

3 Wherfor the dropis of reynes weren forbodun, and no late reyn was. The forhed of a womman hoore is maad to thee; thou noldist be aschamed.

That's why no showers have been sent, and no spring rains have fallen. But you just stare back shamelessly like a prostitute; you refuse to accept you've done anything wrong.

4 Nameli fro this tyme forth clepe thou me, Thou art my fadir, the ledere of my virginyte.

Didn't you just tell me, “My father, you've been such a close friend to me since I was little.

5 Whether thou schalt be wrooth with outen ende, ether schalt contynue in to the ende? Lo! thou hast spoke, and hast do yuels, and thou were myyti. And for wordis of penaunce thou blasfemydist bi wordis of pride; and thou fillidist thin yuel thouyt, and schewidist thi strengthe ayens thi hosebonde, that thou maist do that thing that thou tretidist bi word.

You won't be angry with me for a long time, will you? You won't go on being like that forever?” This is what you've said, but you keep on sinning as much as you can.

6 And the Lord seide to me, in the daies of Josie, the kyng, Whether thou hast seyn what thing the aduersarie, Israel, hath do? Sche yede to hir silf on ech hiy hil, and vndur ech tre ful of boowis, and dide fornycacioun there.

During the reign of King Josiah, the Lord told me, Have you seen what unfaithful Israel has done? She has prostituted herself on every high hill and under every green tree.

7 And Y seide, whanne sche hadde do alle these thingis, Turne thou ayen to me; and sche turnede not ayen. And hir sistir, Juda, brekere of the lawe,

I hoped that after she'd done all this she'd come back to me. But she didn't come back, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw what happened.

8 siy, that for the aduersarie, Israel, dide auowtrie, Y hadde left hir, and Y hadde youe to hir a libel of forsakyng; and Juda, hir sistir, brekere of the lawe, dredde not, but also sche yede, and dide fornycacioun.

She saw that because of everything unfaithful Israel had done on committing adultery, I sent her away, giving her a certificate of divorce. But her unfaithful sister Judah wasn't afraid and prostituted herself too.

9 And bi liytnesse of hir fornicacioun sche defoulide the erthe, and dide auowtrie with a stoon, and with a tree.

Israel didn't care about the immorality, as she made herself and the land unclean, committing adultery by worshiping stones and trees.

10 And in alle these thingis hir sistir, Juda, brekere of the lawe, turnede not ayen to me, in al hir herte, but in a leesyng, seith the Lord God.

Despite all this, her unfaithful sister Judah didn't come back to me in sincerity. She only pretended to do so, declares the Lord.

11 And the Lord seide to me, The aduersarie, Israel, hath iustified hir soule, in comparisoun of Juda, brekere of the lawe.

The Lord told me, Unfaithful Israel showed that she wasn't as guilty as unfaithful Judah.

12 Go thou, and crye these wordis ayens the north; and thou schalt seie, Thou aduersarie, Israel, turne ayen, seith the Lord, and Y schal not turne awei my face fro you; for Y am hooli, seith the Lord, and Y schal not be wrooth with outen ende.

Now go and announce this message to the north: Come back, unfaithful Israel, declares the Lord. I won't be angry with you anymore, because I am merciful, declares the Lord. I won't be angry forever.

13 Netheles knowe thou thi wickidnesse; for thou hast trespassid ayens thi Lord God, and thou hast spred abrood thi weies to aliens vndur ech tre ful of bowis; and thou herdist not my vois, seith the Lord.

Just admit you did wrong, that you rebelled against the Lord your God. You spread yourself around, committing adultery by worshiping foreign gods under every green tree, refusing to do what I told you, declares the Lord.

14 Be ye conuertid, sones, turnynge ayen, seith the Lord, for Y am youre hosebonde; and Y schal take you oon of a citee, and tweyne of a kynrede, and Y schal lede you in to Sion;

Come back, unfaithful children, declares the Lord, because I am married to you. I will take you, one from a town and two from a family, and bring you to Zion.

15 and Y schal yyue to you scheepherdis after myn herte, and thei schulen feede you with kunnyng and teching.

I will give you shepherds who are like me who will feed you wisely and with understanding.

16 And whanne ye schulen be multiplied, and encreesse in the lond, in tho daies, seith the Lord, thei schulen no more seie, The arke of testament of the Lord; nether it schal stie on the herte, nether thei schulen thenke on it, nether it schal be visitid, nether it schal be ferthere.

At that time as you increase in number in the country, declares the Lord, no one will be talking about the Ark of the Lord's Agreement anymore. People won't need to think about it or remember it or wonder what happened to it; and certainly won't need to make a new one.

17 In that tyme thei schulen clepe Jerusalem The seete of the Lord, and alle hethene men schulen be gaderid togidere to it, in the name of the Lord, in Jerusalem; and thei schulen not go aftir the schrewidnesse of her worste herte.

When that time comes Jerusalem will be called the Throne of the Lord, and all the nations will come together in Jerusalem to honor the Lord. They won't be stubborn or wicked anymore.

18 In tho daies the hous of Juda schal go to the hous of Israel; and thei schulen come togidere fro the lond of the north to the lond which Y yaf to youre fadris.

At that time the people of Judah will join with the people of Israel, and they will return from the land of the north to the country I gave to your forefathers to own.

19 Forsothe Y seide, Hou schal Y sette thee among sones, and schal yyue to thee a desirable lond, a ful cleer eritage of the oostis of hethene men? And Y seide, Thou schalt clepe me fadir, and thou schalt not ceesse to entre aftir me.

I said to myself, I really want you to be my children, and to give you the best country, the most beautiful place of any nation. I hoped you would call me “Father,” and never give up following me.

20 But as if a womman dispisith hir louyere, so the hous of Israel dispiside me, seith the Lord.

But just like a wife might betray her husband, you have betrayed me, people of Israel, declares the Lord.

21 A vois is herd in weies, the weping and yellyng of the sones of Israel; for thei maden wickid her weie, thei foryaten her Lord God.

Voices are crying on bare hilltops—the Israelites weeping and pleading for mercy, because they have gone astray and forgotten the Lord their God.

22 Be ye conuertid, sones, turnynge ayen, and Y schal heele youre turnyngis awei. Lo! we comen to thee; for thou art oure Lord God.

Come back, unfaithful children, and I will heal your unfaithfulness. “We're here! Yes, we're coming back to you, because you are the Lord our God.”

23 Verili litil hillis weren lieris, the multitude of mounteyns was fals; verili in oure Lord God is the helthe of Israel.

There's no doubt that pagan worship from the hills is pure lies; the idolatry that comes from the mountains is just noise. Israel's salvation is in the Lord our God alone.

24 Schenschipe eete the trauel of oure fadris, fro oure yongthe; schenschipe eet the flockis of hem, and the droues of hem, the sones of hem, and the douytris of hem.

All our lives pagan idolatry has destroyed what our fathers worked so hard for: their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.

25 We schulen slepe in oure schenschipe, and oure sclaundir schal hile vs; for we synneden to oure Lord God, bothe we and oure fadris, fro oure yongthe `til to this dai; and we herden not the vois of oure Lord God.

We should lie down in shame, and have our disgrace bury us. We have sinned against the Lord our God, us and our fathers. From when we were young right up to now we have not obeyed what the Lord our God told us to do.