Jeremiah 3
1 “[Moses wrote that] if a man divorces his wife and then she marries another man, her first husband certainly must not [RHQ] take her back again [to be his wife], because that would certainly [RHQ] cause the whole nation to become unacceptable to me. But you have more [idols than] prostitutes have men whom they have slept with! So, [why should I accept you if] you return to me?” [RHQ] says Yahweh.
| לאמר הן ישלח איש את אשתו והלכה מאתו והיתה לאיש אחר הישוב אליה עוד--הלוא חנוף תחנף הארץ ההיא ואת זנית רעים רבים--ושוב אלי נאם יהוה |
2 “Look up at the barren hilltops. On every hilltop there are [RHQ] [idols that you have worshiped]. [It is as though] they are all lovers with whom you have had sex. [It is as though] you have sat along the roadsides like an Arab, waiting [to attack and steal things from] those who pass by. Because of worshiping idols and all the other wicked things that you have done, you have caused the [entire] land to become unacceptable to me.
| שאי עיניך על שפים וראי איפה לא שגלת (שכבת)--על דרכים ישבת להם כערבי במדבר ותחניפי ארץ בזנותיך וברעתך |
3 That is why I have not sent you any rain at the times of the year when you needed it. But you are like prostitutes [MET] who are not at all ashamed [for what they have done].
| וימנעו רבבים ומלקוש לוא היה ומצח אשה זונה היה לך מאנת הכלם |
4 Now each of you says to me, ‘You are my father! You have loved me ever since I was young!
| הלוא מעתה קראתי (קראת) לי אבי אלוף נערי אתה |
5 So surely you will not [RHQ] be angry with me forever!’ But you will not quit sinning!”
| הינטר לעולם אם ישמר לנצח הנה דברת ותעשי הרעות ותוכל |
6 [One day] when Josiah was the king of Judah, Yahweh said to me, “Have you seen what the people of Israel have done? They have turned away from me, like a woman who has abandoned her husband and sleeps with other men. They have gone up on every hilltop and under every big tree and worshiped idols there [MET].
| ויאמר יהוה אלי בימי יאשיהו המלך הראית אשר עשתה משבה ישראל הלכה היא על כל הר גבה ואל תחת כל עץ רענן--ותזני שם |
7 I thought that they would return to me, so I said to them, ‘Come back to me!’ But they refused. So I sent them away [to other countries, like a man] writes a note saying that he is divorcing his wife and then sends his wife away because she has committed adultery [MET].
| ואמר אחרי עשותה את כל אלה אלי תשוב--ולא שבה ותראה (ותרא) בגודה אחותה יהודה |
8 The people of Judah saw what I did to them. But they are just like the people of Israel. They are not afraid [of what I will do to them]. They also [have turned away from me and are worshiping idols like] women who abandon their husbands and go to other men [MET].
| וארא כי על כל אדות אשר נאפה משבה ישראל שלחתיה ואתן את ספר כריתתיה אליה ולא יראה בגדה יהודה אחותה--ותלך ותזן גם היא |
9 They thought that worshiping idols did not matter to me, so they have made the [entire] land unacceptable to me by worshiping idols of wood and stone.
| והיה מקל זנותה ותחנף את הארץ ותנאף את האבן ואת העץ |
10 The people of Judah have pretended to return to me, but they have not really done that. [This is true because I], Yahweh, have said it.”
| וגם בכל זאת לא שבה אלי בגודה אחותה יהודה--בכל לבה כי אם בשקר נאם יהוה |
11 Then Yahweh said to me, “The people of Israel have turned away from me, but what the people of Judah have done is worse.
| ויאמר יהוה אלי צדקה נפשה משבה ישראל מבגדה יהודה |
12 So go and tell this to the people of Israel: ‘Yahweh says this to you Israeli people who have turned away from him: I am merciful. I will not continue to be angry with you forever. So return to me.
| הלך וקראת את הדברים האלה צפונה ואמרת שובה משבה ישראל נאם יהוה--לוא אפיל פני בכם כי חסיד אני נאם יהוה לא אטור לעולם |
13 But you must admit/say that you are guilty, and that you have rebelled against me, Yahweh, your God, that you have worshiped idols under big trees everywhere, and you have not obeyed me. You have turned away from me.
| אך דעי עונך כי ביהוה אלהיך פשעת ותפזרי את דרכיך לזרים תחת כל עץ רענן ובקולי לא שמעתם נאם יהוה |
14 But you belong to me. So I will take you, one from [each] city and two from [each] clan, and bring you [back] to Jerusalem [from the countries to which you were exiled].
| שובו בנים שובבים נאם יהוה כי אנכי בעלתי בכם ולקחתי אתכם אחד מעיר ושנים ממשפחה והבאתי אתכם ציון |
15 [If you do that], I will appoint for you leaders with whom I am pleased, leaders who will guide you [well] because they will know and understand [what pleases me].
| ונתתי לכם רעים כלבי ורעו אתכם דעה והשכיל |
16 And when you become very numerous [DOU] in your land, you will not need to talk about the Sacred Chest that contained the Ten Commandments. You will not think about it, and you will not want to make a new one.
| והיה כי תרבו ופריתם בארץ בימים ההמה נאם יהוה--לא יאמרו עוד ארון ברית יהוה ולא יעלה על לב ולא יזכרו בו ולא יפקדו ולא יעשה עוד |
17 At that time people will say, “Jerusalem is [the place where] Yahweh’s throne is.” [People from] all nations will come there to worship me. And they will no longer stubbornly do the evil things that they desire.
| בעת ההיא יקראו לירושלם כסא יהוה ונקוו אליה כל הגוים לשם יהוה לירושלם ולא ילכו עוד--אחרי שררות לבם הרע |
18 At that time you people [MTY] of Israel and the people of Judah will return from [being (exiled/forced to live) in] lands to the northeast. You will return to the land that I gave to your ancestors to belong to them [forever].
| בימים ההמה ילכו בית יהודה על בית ישראל ויבאו יחדו מארץ צפון על הארץ אשר הנחלתי את אבותיכם |
19 You people of Israel, I wanted to accept you to be my children. I wanted to give you [this] delightful land. It is a land more desirable/pleasant than the land of any other nation! I wanted you to call me ‘father’, and I wanted you to never turn away from me.
| ואנכי אמרתי איך אשיתך בבנים ואתן לך ארץ חמדה נחלת צבי צבאות גוים ואמר אבי תקראו (תקראי) לי ומאחרי לא תשובו (תשובי) |
20 But you have abandoned me like wives who have abandoned their husbands.’” [That is what] Yahweh said, and [I told it] to the people of Israel.
| אכן בגדה אשה מרעה כן בגדתם בי בית ישראל נאם יהוה |
21 People will hear a noise on the barren hilltops. It will be the noise made by people weeping and pleading [for God to be merciful to them]. They will be admitting/saying that they have forgotten Yahweh their God, and that they turned away from behaving as God wanted them to.
| קול על שפיים נשמע בכי תחנוני בני ישראל כי העוו את דרכם שכחו את יהוה אלהיהם |
22 Yahweh will say to them, “You Israeli people, come back to me! [If you do that], I will cause you to never turn away from me again.” [The people will reply], “We are returning to you, because you are Yahweh, our God.
| שובו בנים שובבים ארפה משובתיכם הננו אתנו לך כי אתה יהוה אלהינו |
23 We did not get any help from [the idols that we worshiped on] the hilltops; we did not get any help from making all that noise up there.
| אכן לשקר מגבעות המון הרים אכן ביהוה אלהינו תשועת ישראל |
24 From the time when we were young, the shameful [god Baal] has taken away [from us] everything that our ancestors worked hard to acquire. He has taken away their flocks [of sheep] and herds [of cattle], their sons and their daughters.
| והבשת אכלה את יגיע אבותינו--מנעורינו את צאנם ואת בקרם את בניהם ואת בנותיהם |
25 So, now we should lie down feeling very ashamed [DOU], because we and our ancestors have sinned against Yahweh our God, and we have never obeyed him.”
| נשכבה בבשתנו ותכסנו כלמתנו--כי ליהוה אלהינו חטאנו אנחנו ואבותינו מנעורינו ועד היום הזה ולא שמענו בקול יהוה אלהינו |
