1. "Suppose a man divorces his wife. What if she then gets married to another man? Should her first husband return to her again? If he does, won't the land become completely 'unclean'? People of Israel, you have lived like a prostitute. You have loved many other gods. So do you think you can return to me now?" announces the Lord.
2. "Look up at the bare hilltops. Is there any place where you have not committed adultery with other gods? By the side of the road you sat waiting for lovers. You sat there like someone who wanders in the desert. You have polluted the land. You are like a sinful prostitute.
3. So I have held the showers back. I have kept the spring rains from falling. But you still have the bold face of a prostitute. You refuse to blush with shame.
4. You have just now called out to me. You said, 'My Father, you have been my friend ever since I was young.
5. Will you always be angry with me? Will your anger continue forever?' That is how you talk. But you do all of the evil things you can."
6. During the time Josiah was king, the Lord spoke to me. He said, "Have you seen what the people of Israel have done? They have not been faithful to me. They have committed adultery with other gods. They worshiped them on every high hill and under every green tree.
7. "I thought that after they had done all of those things, they would return to me. But they did not. Their sister nation Judah saw it. And they were not faithful to me either.
8. "I gave Israel their letter of divorce. I sent them away because they were unfaithful to me so many times. But I saw that their sister nation Judah did not have any respect for me. They were not faithful to me either. They also went out and committed adultery with other gods.
9. "Israel was not faithful to me, but that did not bother them at all. They made the land 'unclean.' They worshiped gods that were made out of stone and wood.
10. In spite of all that, their sister Judah did not come back to me. They were not faithful to me either. They did not return with all their heart. They only pretended to," announces the Lord.