Jeremiah 3:1-2, 8-10

Here’s what YAHWEH says: “If a man divorces his wife and she marries another, would he return to her again? Doing that would thoroughly defile the land. And you, Israel, have prostituted yourself with many lovers, yet now you want to come back to me? I, YAHWEH, have spoken. “Look up to the barren heights and carefully consider: Is there any place where you have not offered yourself as a prostitute? You have sat by the roadside waiting for lovers, sitting like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.

She saw me give unfaithful Israel her divorce papers and send her away because of her continued adultery. Her treacherous sister, Judah, likewise had no fear; she, too, acted like a prostitute. Her infidelity mattered little to her. She polluted the land and committed adultery by worshiping idolatrous stone and wood pillars. Even after all this, Israel’s treacherous sister, Judah, refused to return to me with her whole heart; instead, she came with only deceitful lies,” declared YAHWEH.