Jeremiah 3:19-21

New International Reader's Version

“ ‘I would gladly treat you like my children.
    I would give you a pleasant land.
    It is the most beautiful land any nation could have.’
I thought you would call me ‘Father.’
    I hoped you would always obey me.
²⁰ But you people are like a woman who is not faithful to her husband.
    Israel, you have not been faithful to me,”
    announces the Lord.

²¹ A cry is heard on the bare hilltops.
    The people of Israel are weeping and begging for help.
That’s because their lives are so twisted.
    They’ve forgotten the Lord their God.