Daily Bread

3 “If a man divorces^(A) his wife
    and she leaves him and marries another man,
should he return to her again?
    Would not the land be completely defiled?^(B)
But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers^(C)—
    would you now return to me?”^(D)
declares the Lord.
² “Look up to the barren heights^(E) and see.
    Is there any place where you have not been ravished?
By the roadside^(F) you sat waiting for lovers,
    sat like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land^(G)
    with your prostitution^(H) and wickedness.
³ Therefore the showers have been withheld,^(I)
    and no spring rains^(J) have fallen.
Yet you have the brazen^(K) look of a prostitute;
    you refuse to blush with shame.^(L)
4 Have you not just called to me:
    ‘My Father,^(M) my friend from my youth,^(N)
5 will you always be angry?^(O)
    Will your wrath continue forever?’
This is how you talk,
    but you do all the evil you can.”

“‘Return,^(AJ) faithless^(AK) Israel,’ declares the Lord,
    ‘I will frown on you no longer,
for I am faithful,’^(AL) declares the Lord,
    ‘I will not be angry^(AM) forever.
¹³ Only acknowledge^(AN) your guilt—
    you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
you have scattered your favors to foreign gods^(AO)
    under every spreading tree,^(AP)
    and have not obeyed^(AQ) me,’”
declares the Lord.

“‘How gladly would I treat you like my children
    and give you a pleasant land,^(BF)
    the most beautiful inheritance^(BG) of any nation.’
I thought you would call me ‘Father’^(BH)
    and not turn away from following me.
²⁰ But like a woman unfaithful to her husband,
    so you, Israel, have been unfaithful^(BI) to me,”
declares the Lord.

²¹ A cry is heard on the barren heights,^(BJ)
    the weeping^(BK) and pleading of the people of Israel,
because they have perverted their ways
    and have forgotten^(BL) the Lord their God.

²² “Return,^(BM) faithless people;
    I will cure^(BN) you of backsliding.”^(BO)

“Yes, we will come to you,
    for you are the Lord our God.
²³ Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills^(BP)
    and mountains is a deception;
surely in the Lord our God
    is the salvation^(BQ) of Israel.
²⁴ From our youth shameful^(BR) gods have consumed
    the fruits of our ancestors’ labor—
their flocks and herds,
    their sons and daughters.
²⁵ Let us lie down in our shame,^(BS)
    and let our disgrace cover us.
We have sinned^(BT) against the Lord our God,
    both we and our ancestors;^(BU)
from our youth^(BV) till this day
    we have not obeyed^(BW) the Lord our God.”