16. In those days you will be fertile, and your population will increase in the land,” declares the Lord. “People will no longer talk about the ark of the Lord’s promise. It will no longer come to mind. They won’t remember it, miss it, or make another one.
17. At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord. All nations will gather in Jerusalem because the name of the Lord will be found there. They will no longer follow their own stubborn, evil ways.
18. In those days the nation of Judah will live with the nation of Israel. They will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave their ancestors as their own property.
19. “I wanted to treat you like childrenand give you a pleasant land,the most beautiful property among the nations.I thought that you would call me Father and wouldn’t turn away from me.
20. But like a wife who betrays her husband,so you, nation of Israel, betrayed me,” declares the Lord.
21. The sound of crying is heard on the hills.It is the crying and the pleading of the people of Israel.They have become crookedand have forgotten the Lord their God.
22. “Come back, you rebellious people,and I will forgive you for being unfaithful.”Here we are!We have come to you because you are the Lord our God.
23. Truly, the noise from the hills, from the mountains,is the noise of false worship.Truly, the Lord our God will rescue us.
24. Ever since we were young,the shameful worship ⌊of Baal⌋has taken everything our ancestors worked for,their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.
25. We must lie down in our shameand be covered by our disgrace.Ever since we were young, we and our ancestors have sinnedagainst the Lord our God.We haven’t obeyed the Lord our God.