3
1 They say:
If an ish put away [in divorce] his isha,
and she go from him,
and become another manʼs,
shall he return unto her again?
Shall not that eretz be defiled and greatly polluted?
But thou hast played the zonah with re'im rabbim (many lovers);
yet shuv (turn) to Me,
saith Hashem.
2 Lift up thine eyes unto the hilltops, and see!
Where hast thou not been lain with?
In the drakhim (ways, roads) hast thou sat [waiting] for them,
as the nomad in the midbar;
and thou hast defiled the eretz
with thy zenut (whoredom, prostitution) and with thy ra'ah (wickedness).
3 Therefore the revivim (showers) have been withheld,
and there hath been no malkosh (latter rain, spring rain);
and thou hadst a metzach isha zonah (whoreʼs forehead),
and thou refusedst to blush with shame.
4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto Me:
Avi, Thou art the Alluf (Guide, Friend) of my neurim (youth)?
5 Will He reserve His anger l'olam?
Will He keep it lanetzach?
Hinei, this is what you preach,
but you practice all hara'ot (the evils) you can.
6 Hashem said also unto me in the days of Yoshiyah HaMelech, Hast thou seen that which meshuvah Yisroel (backsliding Yisroel) hath done? She is gone up upon every high hill and under every green tree, and there hath played the zonah. 7 And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto Me. But she returned not. And her treacherous achot Yehudah saw it.* 8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby meshuvah Yisroel (backsliding Yisroel) committed adultery, I had put her away, and given her a sefer keritut (bill of divorce); yet her treacherous achot Yehudah feared not, but went and played the zonah also. 9 And it came to pass through the lightness with which she† took her zenut (whoredom), that she defiled HaAretz, and committed adultery with HaEven (the Stone)‡ and with HaEtz (the Wood).§ 10 And yet for all this her treacherous achot Yehudah hath not returned unto Me with her kol lev, but in sheker (falsity, pretense, an insincere religious spirit), saith Hashem.
11 And Hashem said unto me, Meshuvah Yisroel hath come nearer to justifying herself than treacherous Yehudah.
12 Go and proclaim these devarim toward the north, and say:
Return, thou meshuvah Yisroel,
saith Hashem;
and I will not cast down Mine anger to fall upon you;
for I am chasid (displaying chesed, mercy),
saith Hashem,
and I will not keep anger l'olam.
13 Only acknowledge thine avon (iniquity, guilt of wrongdoing),
that thou hast rebelled against Hashem your G-d,
and hast scattered thy favors to the zarim
under every green tree,
and ye have not obeyed My voice,
saith Hashem.
14 Shuvu (Turn), O banim shovaviv (backsliding children),
saith Hashem;
for I am married unto you:
and I will take you one from a town,
and two from a mishpakhah,
and I will bring you to Tziyon:
15 And I will give you ro'im according to Mine lev, which shall feed you with da'as and seichel. 16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in HaAretz, in those days, saith Hashem, they shall say no more, The Aron Brit Hashem: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they ask for it; neither shall another be fashioned. 17 At that time they shall call Yerushalayim the Kisse Hashem; and all the Goyim shall be gathered unto it, to the Shem Hashem, to Yerushalayim; neither shall they walk any more after the sherirut libam harah (the stubbornness of their evil heart). 18 In those days Bais Yehudah shall walk with Bais Yisroel, and they shall come together out of the eretz tzafon to HaAretz that I have given for a nachalah unto Avoteichem.
19 But I said:
How can I set thee among the banim,
and give thee an eretz chemdah (a land of desire),
the most beautiful nachalah of the Goyim?
And I said: Thou shalt call Me, Avi;
and shalt not turn back from following Me.
20 Surely as an isha treacherously departeth from her husband,
so have ye dealt treacherously with Me, O Bais Yisroel,
saith Hashem.
21 A voice was heard upon the high places,
weeping and tachanunei Bnei Yisroel (supplications of the Children of Israel);
for they have perverted their derech,
and they have forgotten Hashem Eloheihem.
22 Shuvu (return), ye banim shovavim (backsliding children),
and I will heal your meshuvot (backslidings).
Behold, we come unto Thee;
for Thou art Hashem Eloheinu.
23 Truly in sheker is Salvation hoped for from the hills,
and from the multitude of mountains;
truly in Hashem Eloheinu
is the Teshu'at Yisroel (Salvation of Israel).
24 For HaBoshet (the Shame),* hath devoured the labor of Avoteinu from ne'ureinu (our youth): their tzon and their bakar, their banim and their banot. 25 We lie down in our Boshet (Shame), and kelimateinu (our humiliation) covereth us; for we have sinned against Hashem Eloheinu, we and Avoteinu, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of Hashem Eloheinu.
* 3:7 i.e., saw Israelʼs refusal to renounce fertility cult idolatry † 3:9 Yisroel ‡ 3:9 of the fertility cult of Ba'al worship § 3:9 of the fertility cult of Ba'al worship * 3:24 i.e. the Ba'al fertility cult false religion