< Jeremiah 3 >

1 “It is commonly said: ‘If a man has divorced his wife, and she departs from him, she will marry another man.’ So why would he return to her again? Is not that woman polluted and defiled? But you have fornicated yourself with many lovers. Even so, return to me, says the Lord, and I will accept you.
ἐὰν ἐξαποστείλῃ ἀνὴρ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπέλθῃ ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ γένηται ἀνδρὶ ἑτέρῳ μὴ ἀνακάμπτουσα ἀνακάμψει πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔτι οὐ μιαινομένη μιανθήσεται ἡ γυνὴ ἐκείνη καὶ σὺ ἐξεπόρνευσας ἐν ποιμέσιν πολλοῖς καὶ ἀνέκαμπτες πρός με λέγει κύριος
2 Lift your eyes straight up, and see where you did not debase yourself. You were sitting in the roadways, waiting for them, like a robber in the wilderness. And you have polluted the land by your fornications and by your wickedness.
ἆρον εἰς εὐθεῖαν τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς σου καὶ ἰδέ ποῦ οὐχὶ ἐξεφύρθης ἐπὶ ταῖς ὁδοῖς ἐκάθισας αὐτοῖς ὡσεὶ κορώνη ἐρημουμένη καὶ ἐμίανας τὴν γῆν ἐν ταῖς πορνείαις σου καὶ ἐν ταῖς κακίαις σου
3 For this reason, the rain showers were withheld, and there were no late season rains. You made your face like that of a promiscuous woman; you were not willing to blush.
καὶ ἔσχες ποιμένας πολλοὺς εἰς πρόσκομμα σεαυτῇ ὄψις πόρνης ἐγένετό σοι ἀπηναισχύντησας πρὸς πάντας
4 Therefore, at least from this moment on, call out to me: ‘You are my father, the guide of my virginity.’
οὐχ ὡς οἶκόν με ἐκάλεσας καὶ πατέρα καὶ ἀρχηγὸν τῆς παρθενίας σου
5 Why should you be angry unceasingly? And will you continue in this to the end? Behold, you have spoken and done evil, for you were able to do so.”
μὴ διαμενεῖ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἢ διαφυλαχθήσεται εἰς νεῖκος ἰδοὺ ἐλάλησας καὶ ἐποίησας τὰ πονηρὰ ταῦτα καὶ ἠδυνάσθης
6 And, in the days of king Josiah, the Lord said to me: “Have you not seen what the apostate Israel has done? She has brought herself up to every lofty mountain, and she has lain down under every leafy tree, and she has committed fornication there.
καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρός με ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ιωσια τοῦ βασιλέως εἶδες ἃ ἐποίησέν μοι ἡ κατοικία τοῦ Ισραηλ ἐπορεύθησαν ἐπὶ πᾶν ὄρος ὑψηλὸν καὶ ὑποκάτω παντὸς ξύλου ἀλσώδους καὶ ἐπόρνευσαν ἐκεῖ
7 And when she had done all these things, I said: ‘Return to me.’ But she did not return. And her deceitful sister Judah saw this:
καὶ εἶπα μετὰ τὸ πορνεῦσαι αὐτὴν ταῦτα πάντα πρός με ἀνάστρεψον καὶ οὐκ ἀνέστρεψεν καὶ εἶδεν τὴν ἀσυνθεσίαν αὐτῆς ἡ ἀσύνθετος Ιουδα
8 that because the apostate Israel had committed adultery, I had dismissed her and had given her a bill of divorce. Yet her deceitful sister Judah was not afraid. But she, too, went and committed fornication herself.
καὶ εἶδον διότι περὶ πάντων ὧν κατελήμφθη ἐν οἷς ἐμοιχᾶτο ἡ κατοικία τοῦ Ισραηλ καὶ ἐξαπέστειλα αὐτὴν καὶ ἔδωκα αὐτῇ βιβλίον ἀποστασίου εἰς τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῆς καὶ οὐκ ἐφοβήθη ἡ ἀσύνθετος Ιουδα καὶ ἐπορεύθη καὶ ἐπόρνευσεν καὶ αὐτή
9 And by the act of her fornication, she defiled the land. For she committed adultery with that which is stone and wood.
καὶ ἐγένετο εἰς οὐθὲν ἡ πορνεία αὐτῆς καὶ ἐμοίχευσεν τὸ ξύλον καὶ τὸν λίθον
10 And after all these things, her deceitful sister Judah has not returned to me with her whole heart, but with lies, says the Lord.”
καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν τούτοις οὐκ ἐπεστράφη πρός με ἡ ἀσύνθετος Ιουδα ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας αὐτῆς ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ ψεύδει
11 And the Lord said to me: “The apostate Israel has justified her own soul by comparing herself to the deceitful Judah.
καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρός με ἐδικαίωσεν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ Ισραηλ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀσυνθέτου Ιουδα
12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and you shall say: Return, O apostate Israel, says the Lord. For I will not avert my face from you. For I am holy, says the Lord, and I will not be angry forever.
πορεύου καὶ ἀνάγνωθι τοὺς λόγους τούτους πρὸς βορρᾶν καὶ ἐρεῖς ἐπιστράφητι πρός με ἡ κατοικία τοῦ Ισραηλ λέγει κύριος καὶ οὐ στηριῶ τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς ὅτι ἐλεήμων ἐγώ εἰμι λέγει κύριος καὶ οὐ μηνιῶ ὑμῖν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα
13 So then, truly acknowledge your iniquity, that you have betrayed the Lord your God, and that you have spread your ways to strangers, under every leafy tree, and that you have not listened to my voice, says the Lord.
πλὴν γνῶθι τὴν ἀδικίαν σου ὅτι εἰς κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἠσέβησας καὶ διέχεας τὰς ὁδούς σου εἰς ἀλλοτρίους ὑποκάτω παντὸς ξύλου ἀλσώδους τῆς δὲ φωνῆς μου οὐχ ὑπήκουσας λέγει κύριος
14 Convert, O rebellious sons, says the Lord. For I am your leader. And so, I will take you, one from a city, and two from a family, and I will lead you into Zion.
ἐπιστράφητε υἱοὶ ἀφεστηκότες λέγει κύριος διότι ἐγὼ κατακυριεύσω ὑμῶν καὶ λήμψομαι ὑμᾶς ἕνα ἐκ πόλεως καὶ δύο ἐκ πατριᾶς καὶ εἰσάξω ὑμᾶς εἰς Σιων
15 And I will give you pastors according to my own heart. And they will feed you with knowledge and doctrine.
καὶ δώσω ὑμῖν ποιμένας κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν μου καὶ ποιμανοῦσιν ὑμᾶς ποιμαίνοντες μετ’ ἐπιστήμης
16 And when you have been multiplied and increased in the land in those days, says the Lord, they will no longer say: ‘The Ark of the covenant of the Lord!’ And it will not enter into the heart, and they will not call it to mind. It will neither be visited, nor made use of, any longer.
καὶ ἔσται ἐὰν πληθυνθῆτε καὶ αὐξηθῆτε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις λέγει κύριος οὐκ ἐροῦσιν ἔτι κιβωτὸς διαθήκης ἁγίου Ισραηλ οὐκ ἀναβήσεται ἐπὶ καρδίαν οὐκ ὀνομασθήσεται οὐδὲ ἐπισκεφθήσεται καὶ οὐ ποιηθήσεται ἔτι
17 In that time, Jerusalem will be called: ‘The Throne of the Lord.’ And all the nations will be gathered to it, in the name of the Lord, in Jerusalem. And they will not walk after the depravity of their own most wicked heart.
ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ καλέσουσιν τὴν Ιερουσαλημ θρόνος κυρίου καὶ συναχθήσονται εἰς αὐτὴν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη καὶ οὐ πορεύσονται ἔτι ὀπίσω τῶν ἐνθυμημάτων τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν τῆς πονηρᾶς
18 In those days, the house of Judah will go to the house of Israel, and they will come from the land of the north, at the same time, to the land that I gave to your fathers.
ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις συνελεύσονται οἶκος Ιουδα ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Ισραηλ καὶ ἥξουσιν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἀπὸ γῆς βορρᾶ καὶ ἀπὸ πασῶν τῶν χωρῶν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἣν κατεκληρονόμησα τοὺς πατέρας αὐτῶν
19 But I said: How shall I place you among the sons, and distribute to you a desirable land, the preeminent inheritance of the host of the Gentiles? And I said: You will call me Father, and you will not cease to walk after me.
καὶ ἐγὼ εἶπα γένοιτο κύριε ὅτι τάξω σε εἰς τέκνα καὶ δώσω σοι γῆν ἐκλεκτὴν κληρονομίαν θεοῦ παντοκράτορος ἐθνῶν καὶ εἶπα πατέρα καλέσετέ με καὶ ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ οὐκ ἀποστραφήσεσθε
20 But, in the same way that a woman spurns her lover, so also has the house of Israel spurned me, says the Lord.”
πλὴν ὡς ἀθετεῖ γυνὴ εἰς τὸν συνόντα αὐτῇ οὕτως ἠθέτησεν εἰς ἐμὲ οἶκος Ισραηλ λέγει κύριος
21 A voice has been heard in the highways, the weeping and wailing of the sons of Israel. For they have made their own ways sinful; they have forgotten the Lord their God.
φωνὴ ἐκ χειλέων ἠκούσθη κλαυθμοῦ καὶ δεήσεως υἱῶν Ισραηλ ὅτι ἠδίκησαν ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν ἐπελάθοντο θεοῦ ἁγίου αὐτῶν
22 “Convert, O rebellious sons! And I will heal your rebelliousness.” “Behold, we are returning to you. For you are the Lord our God!
ἐπιστράφητε υἱοὶ ἐπιστρέφοντες καὶ ἰάσομαι τὰ συντρίμματα ὑμῶν ἰδοὺ δοῦλοι ἡμεῖς ἐσόμεθά σοι ὅτι σὺ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν εἶ
23 Truly, the hills were liars, with the multitude of the mountains. Truly, the salvation of Israel is in the Lord our God.
ὄντως εἰς ψεῦδος ἦσαν οἱ βουνοὶ καὶ ἡ δύναμις τῶν ὀρέων πλὴν διὰ κυρίου θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἡ σωτηρία τοῦ Ισραηλ
24 Confusion has devoured the labor of our fathers, from our youth, with their flocks and their herds, with their sons and their daughters.
ἡ δὲ αἰσχύνη κατανάλωσεν τοὺς μόχθους τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν ἀπὸ νεότητος ἡμῶν τὰ πρόβατα αὐτῶν καὶ τοὺς μόσχους αὐτῶν καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς θυγατέρας αὐτῶν
25 We will sleep in our confusion, and our disgrace will cover us. For we have sinned against the Lord our God: we and our fathers, from our youth, even to this day. And we have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God.”
ἐκοιμήθημεν ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ ἡμῶν καὶ ἐπεκάλυψεν ἡμᾶς ἡ ἀτιμία ἡμῶν διότι ἔναντι τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἡμάρτομεν ἡμεῖς καὶ οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἀπὸ νεότητος ἡμῶν ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης καὶ οὐχ ὑπηκούσαμεν τῆς φωνῆς κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν

< Jeremiah 3 >