5. He won’t hold a grudge forever.He won’t always be angry.’You have said and done all the evil things that you could.”
6. When Josiah was king, the Lord asked me, “Did you see what unfaithful Israel did? She went up every high mountain and under every large tree, and she acted like a prostitute there.
7. I thought that after she had done all this that she would come back to me. But she didn’t come back, and her treacherous sister Judah saw her.
8. Judah saw that I sent unfaithful Israel away because of her adultery and that I gave Israel her divorce papers. But treacherous Judah, her sister, wasn’t afraid. She also acted like a prostitute.
9. Because she wasn’t concerned about acting like a prostitute, she polluted the land and committed adultery with standing stones and wood pillars.
10. Even after all this, Israel’s treacherous sister Judah didn’t wholeheartedly come back to me. She was deceitful,” declares the Lord.
11. Then the Lord said to me, “Unfaithful Israel was less guilty than treacherous Judah.
12. Go and proclaim these things to the north:“‘Come back, unfaithful Israel.It is the Lord speaking.I will no longer frown on youbecause I’m merciful,’ declares the Lord.‘I will no longer be angry with you.