The Skeptics Annotated Bible (567 page)

4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?

5 Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.

6 The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done?
she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.

(3.6)
“She is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.”

7 And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

8 And I saw,
when
for all the causes whereby
backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce
;
yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

(3.8a)
“When … backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce.
”

(3.8b)
“Yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.”

9 And it came to pass
through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.

(3.9)
“Through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.”

10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.

11 And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for
I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.

(3.12)
“I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.”
144 How long does God’s anger last?
120 Is God merciful?

13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that
thou
hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and
hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree
, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.

(3.13)
“Thou … hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree.”
(Jeremiah just can’t quit talking about sex under the trees.)

14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.

17
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem
: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.

(3.17)
“At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem.”
Jeremiah prophesies that all nations of the earth will embrace Judaism. This has not happened.

18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.

19 But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.

20 Surely
as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me
, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.

(3.20)
“As a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me.”
If a woman leaves her husband, she is “treacherous,” but a man is blameless when he “puts her away” for no reason.

21 A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.

22 Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.

23 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.

24 For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.

4
If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.

2 And
thou shalt swear
, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

(4.2)
“Thou shalt swear.”
63 Is it okay to take oaths?

3 For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

4
Circumcise
yourselves to the LORD, and take away
the foreskins of your heart
, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem:
lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it
, because of the evil of your doings.

(4.4)
“Circumcise … the foreskins of your heart … lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it.
” Circumcise the foreskin of your heart or God will burn you to death.