18 Who is a God like you who forgives sin and passes over the rebellion of those who are left of his special people? You do not remain angry forever because you delight in showing faithful love.

1 God, please be gracious to me, because of your trustworthy love, because of your infinite kindness* please wipe away my sins.

2 Wash away all my guilt; cleanse me from my sin.

6 Remember, Lord, your compassion and trustworthy love—they are eternal!

7 Please don't remember the sins of my youth when I rebelled against you. Instead, remember me according to your trustworthy love, remember me because of your goodness, Lord.

1 Lord, I cry out to you from the depths of my pain.*

2 Please listen to my cry, and pay attention to what I'm asking.

11 Lord, please don't keep back your mercy from me. May your trustworthy love and faithfulness always be my protection.

6 I'm absolutely certain that your goodness and trustworthy love will be with me all through my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

13 Like a loving father, the Lord is kind and compassionate to those who follow him.

15 But the gift of Jesus is not like the sin of Adam.* Though many people died because of one man's sin, God's grace is so much greater and has been shared with so many through his gracious gift in the person of Jesus Christ.

15 So then, should we sin because we're not under law, but under grace? Of course not!

4 But God in his generous mercy, because of the amazing love he had for us 5 even while we were dead in our sins, has made us alive together with Christ. Trusting in him has saved you!

9 But he told me, "My grace is all you will need, for my power is effective in weakness." That's why I happily boast about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me.

13 People who hide their sins won't succeed, but those who confess and renounce their sins will be shown kindness.

7 Wicked people should change their ways and get rid of even the thought of doing something wrong. They should turn to the Lord so he can be merciful to them. Come back to our God, because he's generous with his forgiveness.

18 So the Lord waits, wanting to be kind to you, ready to act to show you mercy, for the Lord is a God who does what is right. All who wait for him are blessed.

13 Go and discover what this means: ‘I want mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I didn't come to call those who do what's right—I came to call sinners."*

21 Peter came to Jesus and asked him, "Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother for sinning against me? Seven times?"

22 "No, not seven times. I would say seventy times seven!" Jesus told him.

14 For if you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

31 But because of your wonderful mercy you did not finish with them, and you did not abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

5 Good things come to those who are generous in their lending and are honest in doing business.

17 May our Lord God be pleased with us, blessing what we do, blessing what we do.

16 So we should go confidently to God on his throne of grace so we can receive mercy, and discover grace to help us when we really need it.

1 So I encourage you, my brothers and sisters, because of God's compassion* for you, to dedicate your bodies as a living offering that is holy and pleasing to God. This is the logical way to worship.

16 For God loved the world, and this is how:* he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who trusts in him shouldn't die, but have eternal life.

29 For you have been given the privilege not only of trusting in Jesus, but suffering for him as well.

1 Then Hezekiah sent an announcement to everyone in Israel and Judah, and also sent letters to Ephraim and Manasseh,* inviting them to come to the Lord's Temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of the Lord, the God of Israel. 2 The king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem had decided to observe the Passover in the second month,* 3 because they hadn't been able to observe it at the usual time since not enough priests had purified themselves and the people hadn't had time to get to Jerusalem.

4 The plan seemed right to both the king and the whole assembly. 5 So they decided to send an announcement to everyone in Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, inviting people to come and keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, in Jerusalem, for many had not done as the Law required.

6 So messengers went to all of Israel and Judah carrying letters from the king and his officials and with the king's authorization. They said, "Children of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped the oppression of the kings of Assyria. 7 Don't be like your fathers and those of you who sinned against the Lord, the God of your forefathers He made them into something horrifying, as you can see. 8 So don't be proud and obstinate like your fathers, but give yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has made holy forever, and serve the Lord your God, that his fierce anger may no longer fall on you.

9 If you come back to the Lord, your relatives and children will receive mercy from their captors and will return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful. He will not reject you if you come back to him."

10 The messengers went from town to town all over the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun; but the people laughed at them and mocked them. 11 Only some men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun weren't too proud to go to Jerusalem.

12 At this time the power of God was helping the people in Judah to all have the same desire to follow the orders of the king and his officials, as indicated by the word of the Lord.

13 Many people gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month—a really large crowd. 14 They went and removed the pagan altars in Jerusalem as well as the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley. 15 On the fourteenth day of the second month they killed the Passover lamb. The priests and Levites were ashamed,* and they purified themselves and brought burnt offerings to the Lord's Temple. 16 They stood at their assigned positions, according to the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood of the sacrifices, which the Levites gave to them.

17 Since many people in the assembly had not purified themselves, the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs on behalf of every unclean person to dedicate the lambs to the Lord. 18 Most of the people, many of those from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not purified themselves. Yet they ate the Passover meal even though this was not what the Law required, for Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, "May the good Lord forgive everyone 19 who sincerely wants to follow the Lord God, the God of their forefathers, even though they're not clean according to the sanctuary requirements." 20 The Lord accepted Hezekiah's prayer and permitted them this violation.*

21 The people of Israel who were there in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great enthusiasm, and every day the Levites and priests praised the Lord, accompanied by loud instruments. 22 Hezekiah spoke positively to all the Levites who showed a good understanding of the Lord. For seven days they ate the food that was assigned to them, presented friendship offerings, and gave thanks to the Lord, the God of their forefathers. 23 Everyone then agreed to continue to celebrate the festival for seven more days. So for another seven days they celebrated, full of joy.

24 Hezekiah, king of Judah, gave a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep as offerings on behalf of the assembly. The officials in turn gave a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep as offerings on behalf of the assembly. A large number of priests purified themselves.

25 The whole assembly of Judah celebrated, together with the priests and Levites, and also with the whole assembly that had come from Israel, including the foreigners from Israel and those living in Judah. 26 There was such tremendous happiness in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel, nothing like this had happened in the city. 27 The priests and the Levites stood up to bless the people, and God heard them—their prayer ascended to where he lived in heaven.

1 If a man divorces his wife and she goes and marries someone else, could he ever go back to her? Wouldn't the country be made totally unclean by this? But you have done worse by prostituting yourselves with many lovers, and now you want to come back to me? declares the Lord.

2 Look up at the bare hilltops. Is there anywhere that you haven't had sex? You sat at the roadside like someone from the desert waiting for your lovers to pass by. You have made the land unclean with your prostitution and evil. 3 That's why no showers have been sent, and no spring rains have fallen. But you just stare back shamelessly like a prostitute; you refuse to accept you've done anything wrong.

4 Didn't you just tell me, "My father, you've been such a close friend to me since I was little. 5 You won't be angry with me for a long time, will you? You won't go on being like that forever?" This is what you've said, but you keep on sinning as much as you can.

6 During the reign of King Josiah, the Lord told me, Have you seen what unfaithful Israel has done? She has prostituted herself on every high hill and under every green tree. 7 I hoped that after she'd done all this she'd come back to me. But she didn't come back, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw what happened. 8 She* saw that because of everything unfaithful Israel had done on committing adultery, I sent her away, giving her a certificate of divorce. But her unfaithful sister Judah wasn't afraid and prostituted herself too. 9 Israel didn't care about the immorality, as she made herself and the land unclean, committing adultery by worshiping stones and trees. 10 Despite all this, her unfaithful sister Judah didn't come back to me in sincerity. She only pretended to do so, declares the Lord.

11 The Lord told me, Unfaithful Israel showed that she wasn't as guilty as unfaithful Judah. 12 Now go and announce this message to the north:* Come back, unfaithful Israel, declares the Lord. I won't be angry with you anymore, because I am merciful, declares the Lord. I won't be angry forever. 13 Just admit you did wrong, that you rebelled against the Lord your God. You spread yourself around, committing adultery by worshiping foreign gods under every green tree, refusing to do what I told you, declares the Lord.

14 Come back, unfaithful children, declares the Lord, because I am married to you. I will take you, one from a town and two from a family, and bring you to Zion. 15 I will give you shepherds who are like me who will feed you wisely and with understanding.

16 At that time as you increase in number in the country, declares the Lord, no one will be talking about the Ark of the Lord's Agreement anymore. People won't need to think about it or remember it or wonder what happened to it; and certainly won't need to make a new one.

17 When that time comes Jerusalem will be called the Throne of the Lord, and all the nations will come together in Jerusalem to honor the Lord. They won't be stubborn or wicked anymore.

18 At that time the people of Judah will join with the people of Israel, and they will return from the land of the north to the country I gave to your forefathers to own. 19 I said to myself, I really want you to be my children, and to give you the best country, the most beautiful place of any nation. I hoped you would call me "Father," and never give up following me. 20 But just like a wife might betray her husband, you have betrayed me, people of Israel, declares the Lord.

21 Voices are crying on bare hilltops—the Israelites weeping and pleading for mercy, because they have gone astray and forgotten the Lord their God.

22 Come back, unfaithful children, and I will heal your unfaithfulness.

"We're here! Yes, we're coming back to you, because you are the Lord our God."

23 There's no doubt that pagan worship from the hills is pure lies; the idolatry that comes from the mountains is just noise.* Israel's salvation is in the Lord our God alone.

24 All our lives pagan idolatry has destroyed what our fathers worked so hard for: their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.

25 We should lie down in shame, and have our disgrace bury us. We have sinned against the Lord our God, us and our fathers. From when we were young right up to now we have not obeyed what the Lord our God told us to do.